


Shifter De Forma

by kpopismydrug



Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ, Super Junior
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, M/M, Mild Language, canine shifters, feline shifters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-20
Updated: 2014-06-03
Packaged: 2018-01-04 16:09:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 64,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1083016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kpopismydrug/pseuds/kpopismydrug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyuhyun thought his life was as normal as you could get, but when a dog is rushed into the veterinarian practice he works at, it brings home a past and a new world he didn’t know existed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title is Catalan for Shape Shifter.

 

 

 

 

Looking out of his office window, Donghae gazed at the buildings that littered the city.

 

He was supposed to meet a new client today.

 

Said client was fifteen minutes late.

 

Donghae doesn’t appreciate tardiness.

 

This new client has been badgering them for the past few weeks to build his complex, ultra modern home, claiming that Donghae’s building company was the only one who was qualified enough to meet his demands and standards.

 

Donghae had briefly met the younger male when he was ambushed with the first proposal for the job.

 

His hackles had risen immediately when he realised the male was a shifter.

 

Donghae was a shifter too, but the younger male was a different breed.

 

To put it politely, he was of the feline breed, and considering Donghae was of the canine breed, his response to the other male was completely justifiable.

 

His best friend, however, didn’t think the same and lectured Donghae for a good hour about how he shouldn’t go snarling at potential clients all because he didn’t like cats.

 

Speaking of his best friend, Donghae turned as the door to his office opened, revealing Hyukjae and his late client.

 

Hyukjae sent him a warning look as he escorted the feline shifter into the room.

 

Donghae ignored it.

 

“You’re seventeen minutes late,” he stated, eyeing the younger male who took a step closer to Hyukjae, his eyes apologetic.

 

“Traffic....” the younger male began, but smartly stopped speaking as Donghae stared at him.

 

“If I agree to this job,” Donghae began, his rational side scolding his instinctual side, “you do know that it’ll be a possible three month wait due to us being in the middle of a construction.”

 

The male nodded, his was expression hopeful. “Your assistant has already informed me.”

 

Hyukjae glowered at the title the feline shifter issued him but kept quiet.

 

Donghae pushed the contract he had made across his desk. “This is my terms, if you agree; we’ll start work as soon as we’ve completed this job.”

 

The younger male practically pounced for the contract, and Donghae shook his head slightly as the male thanked him as he skimmed through it.

 

“Where do I sign?” the male asked eagerly, and Donghae frowned at him.

 

“Take your time to go through it.”

 

“I don’t need to.” The feline shifter smiled at him. “I know that I can trust you.”

 

Once the male had left with a copy of the signed contract, Donghae dropped into his seat behind his desk.

 

“What time are we meeting tonight?” he asked Hyukjae, ignoring the smug grin on his work partner’s face.

 

“Am I not allowed to gloat that I knew you would cave and do that job?” Hyukjae teased.

 

Donghae rolled his eyes and spun his chair around to stare out at the city.

 

He heard Hyukjae’s amused snort from behind him.

 

“If he clings to me during the project....” Donghae lightly warned, and Hyukjae began to laugh at his discomfort the younger male’s affectionate attention he’d been receiving the last few weeks.

 

“He’s harmless,” his friend chided and Donghae glowered at the male’s reflection in the window.

 

“Why me and not you?” Donghae shot back, pout forming on his lips.

 

Hyukjae moved so that he was leaning his back against the window so that he could face Donghae.

 

“Feline shifters tend to gravitate to those who hold more power,” Hyukjae told him and Donghae shuddered at the male’s words.

 

“Enough.” He whined and gave Hyukjae a dirty look when he sniggered. “Time?” he prompted since his question from earlier had gone unanswered.

 

“10pm,” Hyukjae tells him. “We’ll meet at the construction site.”

 

Donghae nodded in agreement. “Do you think we’ll find anything?”

 

Hyukjae shrugged. “It could just be anti-social behaviour.”

 

“In Gangnam?” Donghae questioned, dubious.

 

Hyukjae squirmed, unable to answer. “You think it could be another shifter?” Hyukjae questioned instead.

 

Staring out at the afternoon rush of traffic, Donghae nodded.

 

“We’re territorial,” he stated as he watched the cars.

 

“And we’re the most territorial shifters,” Hyukjae slowly thought out loud. “So it could be another pack warning us?”

 

Donghae didn’t answer. If it was another shifter’s area, then the next couple of months until completion will be tense. Donghae will need to meet and come to a temporary truce with the other shifter/pack to ensure his builders remained safe onsite.

 

By meeting them, he will then be able to judge the level of danger, but until then, he and Hyukjae will have to be very careful.

 

 

 

Staying close to the shadows of the construction yard, Donghae concentrated on his senses to help him pick up the traces from the intruder.

 

During the past week, Donghae’s new construction site has had nightly visitors coming and going. The construction site was for a new art gallery in the lavish and expensive Gangnam area, so once there were signs of trespassing coming to him from his builders, Donghae and Hyukjae decided to do some recon.

 

It was a cold night, his breath puffing out into white clouds in front of his face as he inhaled the crisp winter air.

 

Shuffling came from behind him, but he didn’t startle, it was only Hyukjae returning from his jeep.

 

“Anything?” the male questioned softly as he crouched down beside Donghae, who was busy inspecting the tag mark on the outside wall of the shell of the gallery.

 

Donghae shook his head. All he could smell was the aerosol from the spray can. There was no underlining scent of the tagger due to the rain they had a few hours ago.

 

Humans can hide their scent by not using anything strong smelling, but this didn’t feel like the work of a human, so it meant that it could be the work of a shapeshifter.

 

Donghae’s lips pulled back over his teeth in a silent snarl at the mere suggestion of a shapeshifter skulking around his human employees.

 

“Hae?” Hyukjae immediately picked on his mood, and Donghae could feel the male’s eyes on his back as he moved around to the back of the gallery, where the back streets lay between the surrounding buildings.

 

As soon as he turned the corner, the street lights vanished behind him so that the alleyway was scarce of light. His footsteps didn’t make a sound, neither did Hyukjae’s as they moved from his construction site and further into the other business buildings.

 

The sound of scuffled footsteps suddenly stopping reached their ears from further down the dark alleyway, and Donghae immediately zeroed in on the location and inhaled deeply, ignoring the bite of the cold air stinging his lungs.

 

_Shapeshifter._

Donghae reacted instantly to the sound of the panicked shapeshifter running away from them and Hyukjae cursed Donghae as he easily left the other male behind him.

 

Bursting out into a brightly lit street that had a few people wandering up and down it, Donghae raced past them, ignoring the confused murmurs of him chasing the teenager.

 

The teenager reached the mouth of the street and crossed the main road waiting there.

 

Donghae forgot the most basic thing.

 

He ran out without looking both ways.

 

The sudden and loud screeching of a car assaulted his ears, causing him to falter before he could realise where the car was coming from.

 

He didn’t have to wonder for long.

 

He saw the swerving car coming from his right, and before he could do anything, he was airborne.

 

Rolling over the hood and landing on to his side with a sickening thump, Donghae locked eyes with the startled teenager who he had been chasing.

 

 _He didn’t know he was trespassing another shifter’s territory,_ Donghae mused to himself as his right side of his body flared up with a burning pain, watching as the teenager dropped to his hands and knees, head to the floor, the scent of his fear sticking to Donghae’s nose.

 

“Don’t touch him!” A male’s voice snapped, but Donghae heard the panic in it as he shut his eyes to block out the teenager who was shaking from fear and remorse.

 

“Where is his owner?!” The male continued to snap and Donghae hissed as he felt a soft pressure to his leg.

 

_Owner?_

 

The pain was starting to make him light headed, and Donghae screwed his eyes tightly shut as a moan of pain slipped from him.

 

“It’s okay, I’m going to help you,” the male soothed gently and Donghae felt himself being picked up.

 

As he was slowly lifted up, somewhere in his pain muddle mind, something started to shriek something at him.

 

Donghae’s nose told him that he was surrounded by very worried and panicked humans, and as the human carried him to the sound of a car, Donghae’s mind eventually began to listen to that shrieking.

 

Donghae’s eyes shot open and made eye contact with the human who was currently bundling him gently into the backseat of the car.

 

“Shh,” the male soothed as Donghae attempted to get up. “I know someone who can help.”

 

 _I bet you do,_ Donghae snarled in his mind as he demanded for his body to listen to him and get up and away from this situation.

 

The car door shut and Donghae stilled in shock as his body protested to any movement.

 

He’s been bumped by a car before, but he’s never been hurt this badly.

 

As a sickening terror began to form in the pit of his stomach, he shut his eyes and concentrated on his body as the car’s engine stopped being idle and revved to start moving again.

 

His right side was numb, meaning he’s either caused serious damage to his spine or his leg was dislocated, which explained the constant burning pain.

 

He looked down at his hind leg, wincing at seeing the matted golden fur with his blood caused from scraping the road after he had hit the car, and tried to call for Hyukjae with his mind.

 

Donghae only called him once before he blacked out from the pain.

 

 

 

Racing into the street, Hyukjae stumbled at the smell of Donghae’s blood.

 

His eyes locked on the crowed of people at the mouth of the street and felt wave of sickening dread hit him as he ran towards them.

 

“What happened?” he demanded.

 

“A dog was knocked over,” came various responses, all helpfully building that mountain of dread in Hyukjae’s stomach as he shoved past them.

 

A car raced past him as he searched the road for any signs of Donghae, only to see none.

 

He did, however, see the teenager that Donghae had been chasing after.

 

Making sure the road was clear; Hyukjae stormed over to the kneeling teenager and yanked him up by the back of his jacket.

 

“Where is he?” he snarled in the terrified boy’s face.

 

“H-human t-took him,” the male stuttered, shaking in his hold as his body went limp with submission, eyes refusing to look at Hyukjae.

 

“Did you see the car or catch the scent of the human?” Hyukjae demanded, voice deadly as he ignored the other humans around them demand to know what he was doing to the teenage boy.

 

The teenage boy mutely nodded, body stinking of submission and remorse.

 

Hyukjae yanked him to his feet and pushed him forward while still holding onto him.

 

“Locate them,” he ordered, and as the teenager rapidly nodded, Hyukjae mentally called through the bond he had with Donghae.

 

_Hold on, Hae. I’m coming._

 

 

 

Kyuhyun was making his rounds, checking on the animals that were staying overnight.

 

Most of the animals were asleep. The stray kitten from this morning was still sleeping as the antibiotics worked to stop the infection in its paw from getting worse, the hamster was lying on its back with its chest rising and falling in slumber, and the puppy from this evening was starting to stir.

 

Kyuhyun eased the locked kennel door open.

 

“Hey, little guy,” Kyuhyun softly soothed as the animal stirred at the noise, its eyes fighting the anaesthetic to see him.

 

Kyuhyun carefully checked the dressing on its belly to make sure everything was well, and stroked the black fur to calm the puppy.

 

“You’re okay now,” he soothed, his fingers moving gently up and down the puppy’s spine.

 

The puppy let out a small whine and Kyuhyun’s heart automatically clenched at the sound, his other hand moving in to console him.

 

Once the puppy was settled and there were no more signs of it becoming distressed from its operation, Kyuhyun quietly locked the kennel and moved on to the check the other two animals.

 

Done with his round, just as he shut the door to the kennel area, Sungmin raced down the corridor to him.

 

“Emergency,” he panted, and Kyuhyun grabbed his stethoscope from falling from his neck as he followed Sungmin to the room.

 

“What happened?” he asks as he enters, and falters slightly at the size of the golden retriever.

 

“Henry bumped him in the street,” Sungmin notified him as Kyuhyun gently checked over the animal, noting the way it was breathing, and felt along its sides for swelling.

 

The dog made a pained whimper when he touched around its lower right hind leg, and Kyuhyun put the ear tips of his stethoscope into his ears as he checked to see how the dog’s heart and lungs were working.

 

“Scan him his whole body just to be safe of no more injuries, and see if the damage is his spine or just his hind leg,” he ordered, and once he made a mental note of heart rate and breathing, he allowed Sungmin to wheel the dog to the scan room.

 

After Kyuhyun notified a nurse to prep the surgery room, and another to write his notes down, he went to find Henry.

 

“How fast were you going?” he asked as soon as he spied the younger male in the waiting area.

 

Henry jolted up, pale as a sheet.

 

“N-not fast,” he stammered a little.

 

“Where was its owner?” Kyuhyun asked.

 

“Not there?”

 

“Henry,” Kyuhyun began slowly, frustration building, “We don’t know this dog’s medical history and – technically - you’ve stolen someone’s dog.”

 

“He may be a stray!” Henry argued weakly, eyes dropping to look down at the white floor.

 

Kyuhyun bit back his retort and sighed. “Go back to the area and post flyers or ask around to find this dog’s owner.”

 

A nurse came to tell him that Sungmin was done with the scan and without saying another word to Henry, Kyuhyun turned and left, heading to the surgery room to see what damage has been done.

 

“It’s his hip,” Sungmin explained as he came over to look at the lightboard that showed the dog’s x-ray.

 

Kyuhyun hummed in agreement, eyes memorising the x-ray before hurrying to scrub up.

 

As he was dressing into his surgical scrubsuit and gown, the doors behind him opened and he looked to see who was entering the scrub area.

 

His boss stood there and Kyuhyun shook his head before the male could speak.

 

“It’s an emergency,” he stated, turning his back on the older man.

 

“You haven’t got permission from the owner, nor do you know its history.”

 

Kyuhyun bristled at the reproaching tone and snapped the latex gloves over his hands and arms.

 

“He’s being treated as a stray until it’s stated otherwise,” he told the male, and a nurse placed his face mask over his mouth as he held his hands out of the way.

 

He backed into the surgery room without waiting to hear his boss’s reply.

 

The dog was hooked up to the heart monitor, a steady beep telling all that the animal was fine, and so was the other necessities such as the breathing mask and tube.

 

The x-ray showed that the ball of the hip joint was too far out of place to pop it back into place, so surgery was the only way to ensure they could do it safely.

 

Kyuhyun shaved the area he needed to be at, and once he got the all clear from the anaesthetist, he begun.

 

The golden retriever was the largest he’s seen of the breed, but it’s not uncommon for them to be big. The bright light did nothing to lighten the dark golden colour, and Kyuhyun couldn’t see any signs of it being a stray.

 

He just hoped that Henry could track down its owner.

 

 

 

As Kyuhyun and his team worked, he kept a close eye on how the animal was responding, and it was about halfway through did he notice something amiss.

 

He had just corrected the hip placement and was moving the hind leg slowly to make sure it moved as it should, when he noticed the surgical area was smaller than he made it.

 

Blinking hard, Kyuhyun berated himself for thinking of such things and began to stitch the area up. The animal was lucky; it only had a dislocated hind leg and no internal bleeding.

 

Sungmin cleaned up the area and Kyuhyun pulled off his gloves, his hand touching the soft fur.

 

“You’re going to be fine, big guy,” he whispered as he stroked the dog’s head, a soft smile on his face as he watched the sleeping dog.

 

Kyuhyun froze, the sounds of the room vanishing as the dog opened its eyes and stared at him.

 

Its brown eyes were confused, dazed from the drugs in its system, and Kyuhyun let out a startled gasp.

 

“What’s wrong?” the anaesthetist asked from where he sat behind the dog’s head.

 

Kyuhyun blinked and saw that the dog’s eyes were shut again.

 

Maybe he was tired and he was imagining things like he did just a few minutes ago.

 

“Nothing,” he reassured, and gave the dog one last stroke before leaving his team to clear up.

 

Sitting in the locker room in just his scrubs, Kyuhyun massaged his forehead, attempting to not think about the golden retriever that was being settled into the kennels for the night.

 

He just imagined it. There was no way the dog could open its eyes whilst being under aesthetic, just like how there was no way the cut he had made was smaller than it had been ten minutes beforehand.

 

The other vet – Taeyeon, was starting her night shift and taking over from Kyuhyun, came into the room and Kyuhyun hummed in acknowledgement at the female’s presence.

 

“Bad night?” she asked as she changed from her personal clothes and into her veterinary uniform.

 

Kyuhyun shook his head. “Just tired.”

 

She came and sat down beside him on the wooden bench. “What time are you in tomorrow?”

 

Kyuhyun brought up his shift timetable in his mind and groaned. “Early.”

 

“The joy of working for a vet practice that’s open all day and all night,” the female teased.

 

“We need more vets,” Kyuhyun groaned as he stretched. “We have plenty of nurses, but only three main vets.”

 

The female beside him shrugged her shoulders. “No one wants to work in a practise like ours no more.”

 

Kyuhyun couldn’t argue with that. The practise he worked for wasn’t lavish or well known and they got more strays than anything, and in the last few months the practise has become a beacon for people to drop off strays or unwanted pets at their door.

 

It made Kyuhyun furious and sad.

 

Animals were something he has adored ever since he was kid, and when he turned sixteen, he knew what he wanted to do with his life. He has a natural way with animals, he knew how to calm them, when not to go near them; he just understood them more than humans.

 

Canines were his main love though, and every stray dog that was dumped at their door broke his heart and made him lose more respect for humankind.

 

Since his shift was over now, Kyuhyun got changed and went to say goodnight to his colleagues.

 

Pausing by the kennel area, he entered and went to check on the golden retriever.

 

The dog was in their biggest cage, but it still seemed too cramped for the animal.

 

Kyuhyun knelt down on the floor so that he could see the dog properly and ran his eyes over the animal to make sure all was well.

 

Satisfied that his new patient was doing okay, he moved to get up, but stilled at seeing the brown eyes watching him.

 

“You shouldn’t be awake yet,” he whispered to himself as he stared at the brown eyes.

 

A soft noise came from the dog, neither a growl nor a cry, and Kyuhyun dropped down to his knees again and opened the kennel door.

 

“What’s the matter?” he cooed softly, hand gently stroking the animal as he saw a flare of panic in the dog’s eyes.

 

“You’re safe,” he reassured the animal, his voice tender. “All you have to do now is heal.”

 

The animal’s eyes rolled a little, showing that it was fighting the lingering drugs in its system.

 

Kyuhyun continued to stroke the dog’s head slowly, lulling it back to sleep.

 

Kyuhyun stared at the sleeping dog with sympathy.

 

He hoped the dog had an owner. He didn’t want to see another pet being abandoned.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

_Hae?_

Donghae shifted in his sleep, ignoring the familiar voice in his mind.

 

_If you can hear me, answer me._

Donghae moaned and stilled at the noise that escaped from him.

 

It sounded canine. Not human.

 

His eyes snapped open to see a kennel door.

 

He freaked out.

 

 

 

Kyuhyun’s shift only started ten minutes ago and he was praying for the day not to be as busy as it has been this week.

 

He was going to check on the golden retriever when he heard a distressed cry come from the kennels.

 

Rushing through the doors, a canopy of sounds assaulted his ears as the distressed cry grew and the other animals responded.

 

The kitten was curled in a tight little ball, shaking and meowing, and the puppy was whimpering and crying along with the other dog.

 

Kyuhyun dropped to his knees and jerked back as the golden retriever snarled at him.

 

Reading the defensive posture it was trying to make in the cramped space, Kyuhyun showed the animal the back of his hands to show he was wasn’t a threat and tried to get lower to the floor while staring at his ears instead of his eyes.

 

“Shh, it’s okay,” he pacified the animal, voice soft and calm.

 

The dog was scared; Kyuhyun could almost feel the poor animal’s distress and fear.

 

Kyuhyun held still, his voice repeating the soft mantra to the dog as it continued to growl.

 

Eventually the growling became less aggressive and more of a confused cry as Kyuhyun carefully watched it.

 

The door to the kennel area opened behind him.

 

“Everything is fine,” he told whoever had entered in the same tone he had been using with the dog; “he’s just woken up confused and afraid.”

 

When no one approached from behind, Kyuhyun breathed through the strain from holding his position.

 

He watched as the dog fought a battle with itself, and held his breath when it cautiously leaned its head closer to the kennel door, his nose sniffing.

 

When the dog hobbled to lie back down, Kyuhyun slowly relaxed his body, drawing his arms back to him.

 

The other animals were still making a racket, and Kyuhyun glanced behind him to see Sungmin was silently walking around the edge of the room so that the dog wouldn’t see him.

 

Sungmin nodded at the kitten and Kyuhyun slowly rose so that he could calm the whimpering puppy.

 

“You shouldn’t be moving this much,” he softly chided as the puppy anxiously licked at his fingers through the bars.

 

The puppy yipped at him and he heard Sungmin comforting the kitten, her meows slowly dying off.

 

He unlocked the kennel door and stroked the puppy while also making sure it hadn’t pulled its stitches.

 

“He was just scared,” he gently murmured to the puppy as it slowly began to relax. “Even adults are allowed to get scared.”

 

The puppy whined and pawed at him, causing Kyuhyun to smile at the adorable act.

 

“Any news of the golden retriever’s owner?” he asked and Sungmin told him no, causing his heart to sink, and he stuck his head into the kennel to softly kiss the puppy’s head as it lay on its side, enjoying the slow stroking he was currently doing.

 

Pulling his head back and his hands free, he locked the kennel door and slowly knelt down to check on the golden retriever.

 

Its brown eyes locked with Kyuhyun’s immediately.

 

A shiver of awareness suddenly crept down his spine as the animal watched him.

 

Kyuhyun dragged his eyes away from the brown ones and tried to see if he had irritated his stitches.

 

The white bandage was free of blood, and Kyuhyun nodded at Sungmin’s departing words of tracking down Henry for any updates on the dog’s owner.

 

Something was off.

 

Kyuhyun crept closer to the kennel door, eyes roaming the area. With the way the animal had moved and stood, it should have pulled the wound a little, causing it to bleed.

 

But it was spotless.

 

“I’m going to check you over, okay?” Kyuhyun softly told the dog, waiting to see if his words caused a defensive reaction.

 

The dog just continued to stare at him.

 

Moving slowly, he unlocked the kennel door and eased it open enough to fit his right hand through.

 

He held still, reading the dog’s body language, and moving when it showed no signs of attacking him.

 

“That’s a good boy,” he praised him gently as his hand moved closer to the injured hind leg. “I’m just going to touch here, okay?”

 

Again, the dog continued to watch him.

 

_Okay, this is the strangest dog I’ve ever encountered._

 

As gently and carefully as he could, he pulled back the white bandage to see the stitched area.

 

What he was meant to see was red and tender skin with a slightly swollen line of stitches.

 

What he saw was healed skin.

 

“That’s not possible,” he muttered to himself in disbelief.

 

The dog began to growl then and Kyuhyun swallowed as his body instinctively stiffened at the noise.

 

“Easy, boy,” he soothed as he slowly retreated his hand.

 

The dog acted fast, too fast for Kyuhyun to defend himself.

 

Kyuhyun’s eyes snapped shut, body braced for the pain of a bite to his hand, but all he got was the heavy weight of paws trapping it.

 

Opening his eyes, Kyuhyun gawked at the sight of the dog curiously sniffing his fingers.

 

As the dog whined and tentatively licked the back of his hand, Kyuhyun didn’t know how to react.

 

“You’re a strange one,” he gushed out, relief causing him to sag against the kennel.

 

The dog gave him a look, as if understanding what he had said.

 

Seeing there was no danger, Kyuhyun opened the door further and reached in so that the dog could sniff that hand as well, another whine escaping from him.

 

“What are you whining at, huh?” he asked in amusement as he stroked the soft ears.

 

Another lick at his trapped hand, and Kyuhyun sighed softly as he stroked the animal.

 

“If only I could speak dog,” he chuckled. “That way I would be able to find your owner quicker and return you.”

 

The dog paused its licking of his fingers and looked at him. Kyuhyun smiled and eased his hand free, giving the dog one last scratch on its head before locking the kennel door.

 

“Don’t attack the nurses who will come and feed you.” He sternly told the dog, and after another glance at the bandage that had fallen back to cover the healed area, Kyuhyun stood and left the kennel area.

 

He will examine the dog properly later, only then will he believe that a surgical cut may have possibly healed in a matter of hours.

 

 

 

The scent of the vet still lingered in Donghae’s kennel, causing him to slowly go insane from confusion.

 

It’s been two hours since his mild panic attack, and Hyukjae was struggling to find where he was.

 

_I’m stuck in a kennel so I have no idea which vet practise I’m at!_ He raged to Hyukjae through the link they have to each other.

 

He would shut off the link to the other shifter that was starting to annoy him with his fretting, if it wasn’t for the fact he _needed_ the shifter to come and save him.

 

_Can you try to get out of the kennels so that you can somehow give me a hint to where the fuck you are?!_

Donghae sent a snarl down the link and felt Hyukjae shove his frustration at him in reply.

 

Donghae eyed his healed hind leg. The vet had already noticed that it was healed, knew that it wasn’t normal for a dog to heal that quickly.

 

Donghae hates pain, and as he continued to eye the only idea he has, he whined.

 

The pup above him whined back, its natural instinct to worry about his health causing Donghae to curse his status in the shifter world.

 

Despite the pup being a normal dog, it still recognised Donghae as something stronger and higher than itself, and it instinctively responded to Donghae’s moods.

 

_Are you listening to me?!_ Hyukjae seethed as Donghae un-muted the connection.

 

_I have an idea_ , he tells him instead, and informs the other shifter that he’ll contact him once he’s gotten any hint of where he was.

 

Muting the connection over Hyukjae’s demands to know what he was going to do, Donghae braced himself for the pain he was about to inflict on himself.

 

Counting to three, Donghae attacked his own hind leg, biting through the bandage and began tugging and nibbling at the black stitches until they pulled and bleed down his shaved leg.

 

Once he was happy that it was enough to get him immediate medical attention, Donghae sagged from the pain and began to howl for attention.

 

When the vet from earlier rushed into the room, Donghae _almost_ stopped howling.

 

“What’s wrong?” the male crooned at him and Donghae stopped howling to stare at the male as he came to see what was wrong.

 

“How the-?” The vet whispered under his breath at seeing the state of his hind leg and hurriedly unlocked the door.

 

“Be nice,” the vet warned, and Donghae didn’t even react as the male carefully grabbed and pulled him free so that he could be picked up.

 

As the male grunted from his size and weight, Donghae couldn’t help himself from sniffing at the male’s neck, a confused whine escaping from him again at the strange scent.

 

A tap to his nose by the vet’s chin made him snort as the vet walked briskly from the kennels and through the door.

 

“Behave,” the vet reminded him, and Donghae stared up at the male with stunned eyes.

 

_And you say I’m the strange one,_ he says to himself and draws his eyes away as they enter a reception looking area.

 

The vet orders for a room to be freed immediately, and Donghae stretches his neck to search around for clues of where they were at.

 

He spies a promotional poster and prays that it’s promoting this vet practise rather than another as he’s taken into a room.

 

As the vet starts to clean up the mess he made to himself, Donghae un-mutes the link to Hyukjae and tells him the name and number of the vet practise he seen on the poster.

 

“You must have irritated it earlier,” the vet told him as he cleaned the blood away from his new stitches.

 

_We both know that’s a lie._

Donghae watches the male, totally baffled by the vet.

 

Hopefully when Hyukjae comes for him he can get a second opinion.

 

 

 

By mid afternoon, the traffic of patients slowed. Kyuhyun was on his break, his feet aching from being on his feet all day and nearly all night as he chatted to the receptionist.

 

“If his owner isn’t found soon we’ll need to move him,” Kyuhyun commented as he blew the steam from his coffee. He very rarely drinks it, but he needed the kick of caffeine since he was to remain working late due to their third vet calling in sick.

 

“He’s the biggest retriever I’ve seen,” Luna commented, looking up from the documents she was categorising for their boss.

 

Kyuhyun hummed in agreement. “The kennels are too small for him, despite him being in the biggest we have.”

 

“I wonder if that’s why he was abandoned,” Luna murmured, and Kyuhyun scowled disapprovingly at her.

 

“We don’t know that for sure,” he reprimanded her, causing her cheeks to turn pink from embarrassment.

 

Kyuhyun waved bye to a leaving owner, smiling as the dog tugged on its leash for its owner to hurry up.

 

“I think our boss is starting to get tired of dealing with strays rather than paying owners,” Luna whispered to him, and Kyuhyun’s hand stilled before he could take a drink.

 

Kyuhyun had been afraid that the older man would turn bitter about it, and had prayed for him to remain kind.

 

Kyuhyun thought back to how his boss had reacted last night before he did surgery, and took a gulp of the hot liquid to chase away the cold feeling of dread building in his stomach.

 

“It’s not the animals’ fault that they were abandoned,” Kyuhyun muttered harshly. “There should be a place for them to come and seek medical help and care.”

 

“I agree.” Luna sighed and dropped the documents into a pile on the reception desk. “There are too many animals being left alone in this world, and no one seems to care about them. All they care about is the money.”

 

Kyuhyun has always dreamed of owning his own vet practise. He dreamt of a future where he could take care of those who were alone and unwanted, and eventually rehome them.

 

His father had called his dream a financial black hole and that he would gain nothing, only to lose money and hope.

 

The door to the practise suddenly slammed open, startling them.

 

“Was a golden retriever admitted here late last night?” the male demanded, desperation pouring off him as he came towards them.

 

Kyuhyun blinked at the vibrant red colour the male’s hair has before his brain kicked him to respond to the owner.

 

Luna reassured the man that there had been an admittance, and began to process of getting the needed details for their records of the animal.

 

Kyuhyun curiously watched the anxious male as he told Luna what she needed to know.

 

Kyuhyun couldn’t bite his tongue any longer.

 

“You need to microchip your dog,” he casually lectured, and the male’s eyes snapped to look at him.

 

“Excuse me?” The male gritted out, and Luna sent Kyuhyun a warning look.

 

“Or at least buy him a collar so we know what his name is and how to contact you,” Kyuhyun carried on, moving around the desk as he headed to the door marked ‘staff only’.

 

“I’ll check him over to make sure he’s able enough to go home,” he cut over the male’s excuses, “but if he isn’t, he’ll be staying an extra night.”

 

“No he won’t,” the male bite out and Kyuhyun’s spine tickled at the slight growl he heard. “He’ll be leaving today.”

 

He turned to look at the male with new eyes. He looked slightly intimidating in the small waiting room, his dark eyes daring Kyuhyun to argue against him.

 

This man was used to getting his way. Well, not today. The animal’s health comes first.

 

Kyuhyun smiled, though it felt like he was close to snarling at the man. “Please take a seat.”

 

Kyuhyun left Luna to deal with the male as he entered the staff only area and walked down the corridor to where the kennels were located.

 

Sungmin was feeding the kitten and the puppy was yapping away to itself. The other animals had been collected from their owners earlier, so it just remained those two and the golden retriever.

 

“The owner has arrived,” he announced as he moved towards the spare collars and leashes they have before going towards the retriever’s kennel.

 

“And by your tone I’m guessing you’ve already had words with them?” Sungmin guessed as he picked up the kitchen.

 

Kyuhyun hummed, pausing to frown at the continuous yapping the puppy was doing.

 

“How long has he been this vocal?” He questioned, noting the way its nose was pressed against the kennel door, its little tail wagging enthusiastically.

 

“Wait for it,” Sungmin chuckled and pressed his lips to the kitten’s head in a light kiss.

 

The puppy paused its yapping, tail wagging still, and an amused smile broke over Kyuhyun’s lips as the golden retriever barked from underneath.

 

“You’ve made a new friend?” he cooed to the puppy, letting it lick his fingers now that it realised Kyuhyun was there.

 

Kyuhyun crouched to see the retriever and immediately its tail started wagging.

 

“You must know your owner is here,” he chuckled, opening the kennel door and fixed the collar and leash to him.

 

Kyuhyun opened the door further and the dog calmly came out from its kennel, only to immediately jump up on its back legs and sniff at the puppy that was above it.

 

Kyuhyun briefly panicked, but relaxed as the puppy tried to lick at the other dog’s mouth.

 

Kyuhyun melted inside at the scene, and he didn’t have to tug for the dog to come away, it did so naturally after a few seconds, heading for the door.

 

But his gut twisted at how easy the animal moved and walked.

 

_He should be at least sore._

 

Kyuhyun ignored the twist in his stomach, and took the dog down the corridor and through the door he had came through.

 

The dog barked at seeing the other man, and the feeling of uncertainty and suspicion grew at how it danced to get closer.

 

“He’s healthy,” the owner stated as Kyuhyun tugged the dog to one of the consulting rooms.

 

He ignored the owner and slipped himself and the dog into the room.

 

Bending to lift the dog onto the table, the dog effortlessly beat him to it and jumped up.

 

Kyuhyun swallowed the lump of denial.

 

He checked the dog’s hip and removed the stitches he had replaced earlier this morning.

 

Kyuhyun should be relieved that the dog was healed. But it was too quick; far too quick.

 

“How are you able to heal like that?” he whispered to the dog as he mused over it, delaying the inevitable.

 

The dog whined and continued to sniff him.

 

Kyuhyun tapped the dog’s head to behave. “You always sniff me.”

 

The dog was sitting but it suddenly rose, its front legs rising, and Kyuhyun tensed as they landed on either side of his shoulders, grunting at the reminder of how heavy and big the dog was.

 

Kyuhyun began to laugh as the dog shuffled closer, its nose sniffing Kyuhyun’s face and trying to lick at him but couldn’t due to Kyuhyun straining his head back out of reach.

 

The dog let out a disgruntled whine and Kyuhyun tried to lift the dog’s weight from his shoulders.

 

The door opened to reveal the dog’s owner and Kyuhyun hissed as the dog’s nails dug into his shoulders.

 

“Ow ow ow,” Kyuhyun muttered as he tried to pull the dog from him.

 

“Come on, Hae.” The owner softly ordered, coming towards them.

 

A strange sound left the dog, who was currently burying its face into Kyuhyun’s neck, watching its approaching owner.

 

_You have got to be kidding me,_ Kyuhyun frantically thought to himself as he tried to gently heave the dog from off him.

 

He and its owner stilled at a warning growl, and Kyuhyun breathed through the stinging pain as the nails dug in further.

 

_How the hell am I going to get free?_


	3. Chapter 3

_Move._

_No._

_Donghae...._

Donghae let out a warning snarl and Hyukjae stilled.

 

 _Sniff him,_ Donghae urged. _Can’t you smell it?_

 

Hyukjae shot him a frustrated look.

 

 _All I can smell from him is his human scent and whatever he used to bathe in,_ Hyukjae hissed to Donghae through their link, and Donghae wanted to stamp his feet in frustration.

 

_How come I can only smell it?!_

_The drugs are probably still in your system so they’re affecting you!_

“Hae, you’re hurting the vet,” Hyukjae tensely stated, ignoring Donghae’s retort in his mind, a fake smile fixed on his face.

 

Donghae yelped in surprise as he felt what his nails were digging into, and as he pulled back, the vet and Hyukjae lunged into action.

 

Donghae began to howl as Hyukjae tugged him down from the table whilst the vet put space between them.

 

“I’ll be taking him now,” Hyukjae announced over the noise, and Donghae tugged on the leash to get back to the vet as Hyukjae dragged him towards the door.

 

 _Not yet!_ He snarled at Hyukjae as tried to get away, his mind completely foggy from the vet’s scent.

 

“Kyuhyun, is that blood on you?” a female suddenly gasped as Hyukjae dragged him to the front door, despite his nails scraping the tiled floor.

 

Donghae almost fell over his own legs in his haste to see what the human was talking about.

 

The vet waved off her concerned hands from his shoulders that showed little pinpricks of blood on his white coat.

 

Donghae began to cry, cringing at the faint smell of Kyuhyun’s blood. He didn’t mean to hurt him!

 

“I’ll come back later to pay the bill!” Hyukjae promised and tugged Donghae a final time through the practise doors.

 

 _What the fuck did they give you?_ Hyukjae snapped at him and Donghae yanked him forward.

 

They were in a small back street that was mainly filled with little restaurants and karaoke places.  

 

The winter air brushed over his golden fur, and Donghae took in a huge lungful to get rid of the scent of Kyuhyun’s blood.

 

Donghae’s mind slowly began to clear as Hyukjae walked them towards Donghae’s black jeep that he had parked further down the street.

 

Donghae knew his actions were disgraceful and unexpected of him. He never acts like that.

 

Once Hyukjae took off the collar and leash, he jumped into the back seat, and he cringed slightly at the slight ache to his leg.

 

“I took care of the teenager, thanks for asking.” Hyukjae grumbled as he got into the driver’s seat, throwing the collar and leash onto the seat next to him and started the car.

 

Donghae blinked at the back of the male’s head in confusion. When the correct gear clicked in his mind, Donghae felt like slapping himself repeatedly.

 

Not once has he thought about the cause of why he ended up at the vets.

 

 _And?_  Donghae prompted as Hyukjae drove them away and Donghae burned the area into his memory.

 

“He’s no threat, but he is regretful about the damage he did and for getting you knocked over.” Hyukjae tells him. “So I gave him the usual warning and he promised to be good.”

 

Donghae nods as he lay down on the leather seat. _The vet noticed about how fast I heal._

The car swerved, causing Donghae to growl in warning. He didn’t want to be in another car accident so soon.

 

“And you just decided to mention this now!” Hyukjae vents furiously, eyes glaring at him in the rear-view mirror.

 

 _I’ll deal with it,_ he reassures the male.

 

Hyukjae curses his existence and Donghae rolls his eyes at his best friend’s worry.

 

A little while later, they arrived at Donghae’s home and Hyukjae parked the jeep.

 

Pawing at the door handle, Donghae nudged the door open and jumped down.

 

 _Now that I’m safe and home, you should go and check on the site to see how they’re progressing,_ Donghae suggested as he walked around the car, heading for the gate to his house.

 

“I’ll do that after I’ve been to the vets to pay for your treatment,” Hyukjae told him, moving towards the black, sleek motorbike the male owned which was parked outside Donghae’s property.

 

 _Leave the vets to me,_ he orders as he turns to look back at the male, finality strengthening the order, and Hyukjae stills, hands on his helmet.

 

Slowly, Hyukjae pivoted to look at him, eyes pleading.

 

“Don’t do anything reckless,” he says softly. “Please.”

 

Donghae doesn’t answer him, and Hyukjae’s shoulders slump in defeat.

 

As Hyukjae races away on his motorbike, Donghae cuts off the connection to the male.

 

He felt like he was being suffocated by the other shifter’s emotions, and his shifter within him couldn’t tolerate it no longer.

 

Not all shifters have a separate personality lying inside them, nor do some have special abilities. No. Only the special ones were gifted with this ability to create mind links with other shifters, and other abilities.

 

Donghae felt the build up of irritation from Hyukjae’s behaviour towards him die a little now that he was alone.

 

Hyukjae knew how far to go with Donghae before he knew when to shut up and leave, just like now.

 

Donghae was grateful for a partner - a friend like him, but Hyukjae wasn’t like Donghae; he sometimes forgot that things said or done to Donghae can be the worst thing you can do.

 

That it can bring forth his inner shifter, and when that happens, his true form emerges, either in personality or physically.

 

Sitting outside in the cold, Donghae waited until he felt his shifter go back to sleep before moving towards his home.

 

It’s been awhile since his shifter came forth properly, and Donghae was determined to keep it that way.

 

 

 

Kyuhyun was dead on his feet.

 

His shift was meant to end hours ago, but it was only now that he was getting off.

 

Pausing to check over the records of today’s patients, the reception area was empty with only the sound of the nightshift receptionist tapping away on the computer keyboard.

 

He rolled his aching shoulders and let out a slow yawn.

 

The entrance doors opened, bringing in the cold, and Kyuhyun’s heart sank, praying it wasn’t an animal being brought in.

 

Kyuhyun looked up from the document in his hands and instantly perked up at seeing the suited male who radiated authority.

 

“Can I help you?” the nightshift receptionist greeted the male, but the male wasn’t staring at her, but at Kyuhyun. He had immediately glanced at Kyuhyun as soon as he entered.

 

Kyuhyun swallowed, wondering if he may have pissed someone off due to his sharp tongue.

 

“I’m looking for a vet named Kyuhyun,” the male questioned him, his dark brown eyes fixated on him.

 

“You found him.” Kyuhyun tried to keep the wariness from his voice. “Is there a problem?” he asks, noticing that the male was slightly shorter than himself, so he shouldn’t be feeling so edgy towards the stranger.

 

Kyuhyun slightly fell back against the desk as the male suddenly moved towards him, his heart racing from fright.

 

The male grinned down at him, eyes dancing with amusement.

 

“I’m here to pay for Hae’s treatment,” the male told him, and when Kyuhyun blankly stared up at him, the male’s grin grew.

 

“The golden retriever you treated,” the male reiterated, and Kyuhyun fumbled back to his full height.

 

“You’re his owner?” Kyuhyun questioned, his confusion twisting his face slightly. “I thought the male who collected him was the owner?”

 

“He’s my assistant,” the man tells him with a soft smile. “He was walking him last night and the walking harness broke. It took us awhile to find him, so I’m sorry about the inconvenience.”

 

Kyuhyun nodded and directed with his hand to the reception desk. “The receptionist will deal with the payment, but I do advise you to have him microchipped.”

 

The male didn’t move or even look towards the desk.

 

“Sir?” Kyuhyun prompted, shifting slightly at the way the male looked at him.

 

“I also want to apologise about him hurting you,” the male softly spoke, eyes apologetic and sincere.

 

Kyuhyun waved off the male’s concerns and apology. “Part of the job sometimes,” he lightly joked.

 

The male didn’t respond to his joke, just continued to watch him.

 

Feeling uncomfortable at the silence and from the male’s attention, Kyuhyun murmured a goodnight to his colleague and gave her back the documents.

 

Dipping his head in a goodbye nod, Kyuhyun began to head for the door.

 

“Lee Donghae,” the male introduces himself suddenly when Kyuhyun passed, his hand held out for Kyuhyun to shake.

 

_You named your dog after yourself?_

 

Manners kicked in and Kyuhyun automatically goes to grip it lightly, mouth open to say his full name, but making contact with Donghae’s hand, Kyuhyun feels a warm flush rush through his body.

 

Caught off guard by it, Kyuhyun’s body begins to burn from the warmth and Donghae’s hand tightens on him, pulling Kyuhyun slightly towards him to steady Kyuhyun. Did he sway or?

 

Kyuhyun lets out a calming breath, noticing that his mind was now more awake than it has been all day.

 

He goes to let go, apology leaving his lips, but Donghae refuses to let him go.

 

Kyuhyun snaps his eyes to meet Donghae’s and swallows, throat suddenly dry.

 

Before he can demand for Donghae to let him go, the male does so, but doesn’t move from Kyuhyun’s space.

 

Kyuhyun’s body is hyperaware all of a sudden by the proximity and moves past the male without saying a word, almost sagging with relief at the bite from the winter air hitting him when the doors opened.

 

 _That was weird,_ Kyuhyun thought to himself as he moved down the back street, heading for the bus stop a couple of streets away.

 

Shifting his bag higher on his sore shoulder, Kyuhyun abruptly halted beside a parked jeep.

 

_Does the owner know about his dog’s impressive healing?_

 

Turning around to head back to the practise to have a word with the owner, Kyuhyun almost tripped in his haste to backpeddle at seeing the owner behind him.

 

Heart racing from fright, Kyuhyun let out a shaken sigh.

 

“Sorry,” the male apologised softly, those dark brown eyes once again fixed on him.

 

“Your dog,” Kyuhyun begins, ignoring the burn in his cheeks, “is very special.”

 

_Not what I wanted to say._

Kyuhyun tries again. “I mean, he’s healed remarkably fast considering he was only injured last night.”

 

Kyuhyun yelps in surprise as the jeep beside him beeps, the doors unlocking.

 

“It’s cold,” the male says as he comes towards Kyuhyun. “Do you mind if we chat about this inside the car?”

 

_So you can lock the doors and drive me away to my possible death?_

“That’s fine.”

 

Kyuhyun felt like kicking his mouth at agreeing, and moved aside so Donghae could get into the car.

 

Stomach feeling uneasy, Kyuhyun tapped on the window and Donghae rolled it down, eyebrow raised in question.

 

“No offense, but I’ll stay outside,” Kyuhyun told the male as he shoved his numb hands into his coat pockets.

 

 Donghae looked like he wanted to argue, but nodded.

 

“Is it bad that Hae can heal fast?” Donghae asked him curiously, and Kyuhyun wanted to say yes and that it wasn’t natural, but it’s not like he knew how fast every single animal healed. It could just be a throwback gene or something, or even a defect, so Kyuhyun has no reason to be questioning this in the first place.

 

So why was he?

 

“It’s just something I’ve never seen before. He’s also bigger than most I’ve seen.” he admitted. _And that my gut is screaming at me that something is wrong with your dog because you only really hear about stuff like this in supernatural films and books._

 

Donghae began to chuckle knowingly. “I was like that when he began to grow from being a pup. One minute he was tiny, and the next he was almost up to my waist, threatening to knock me over.”

 

Kyuhyun forces a laugh out, pushing away his suspicious thoughts.

 

_Was he really thinking that the male’s dog was something supernatural?_

Kyuhyun needed to get out more.

 

 

 

Donghae knew his current behaviour at the moment was wrong, but as he kept his car a suitable distance away from the bus Kyuhyun was on, he needed to know where the male lived.

 

Kyuhyun was still suspicious and that was a risk Donghae couldn’t walk away from.

 

Twenty minutes later, he followed the male until he went into a neighbourhood area and parked his jeep so he could carry on by foot.

 

It was easy to keep track of Kyuhyun due to his bizarre scent that showed no signs of becoming less confusing to Donghae.

 

The drugs should definitely be out of his system by now due to his fast metabolism, so Hyukjae’s claim of it being the drugs was void.

 

“Kyuhyun!”

 

Donghae almost died at the sudden shout from behind him, cursing himself for not paying attention, he quickly darted into the convenience shop that he was just about to past.

 

Ignoring the owner’s shout that he was about to close, Donghae listened to the running footsteps pass him and carefully leaned out of the doorway to see Kyuhyun waiting for the female who had shouted.

 

As they walked together towards a small house, Donghae eased from the store and kept to the shadows.

 

Donghae could smell that they weren’t full siblings, and Donghae felt like ripping his hair out in frustration when he failed to catch the smell on her that he’s been getting from Kyuhyun.

 

He watched as Kyuhyun ruffled the girl’s hair, a tender look on his face as they entered the house.

 

_You are driving me insane and it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since we met._


	4. Chapter 4

 

 

 

 

For the past few days, Kyuhyun has went through every textbook and journal he owns or could get a hold of to see if he could shut his mind up about Donghae’s dog.

 

An online journal written by a Swedish vet was what put his suspicions to rest. It’s rare, but there have been cases of animals – canines in particular – to inherit a boost in healing. 

 

At least, Kyuhyun was sure that’s what it said. He’ll get Henry to translate it as well just to make sure he hadn’t mistranslated the English.

 

Speaking of Donghae, the payment he made was a lot more than they told his assistant, and since the cheque was already written out and they couldn’t get into contact with the male, Kyuhyun’s boss happily cashed it, much to everyone’s chagrin.

 

Kyuhyun was just relieved the male was off his case about treating more strays.

 

He was currently walking home after another late shift – he was used to his shifts not ending when they were meant to now that their third vet has handed in his resignation; it was just him and Boa now, overworking themselves because their boss was a greedy twat that only saw money signs.

 

Kyuhyun was getting sick of the male’s attitude, but he refused to leave.

 

He couldn’t abandon those animals that come to that practise.

 

He wondered if his sister was home yet. Their parents were away on holiday, leaving her to look after the small flower shop his mother owned. Seeing no lights on at their small house as he walked up the small bank, he checked his phone for the time and saw it was dead; he hoped she was since the last buses were going to be stopping soon.

 

Kyuhyun saw something out of the corner of his eye and paused to look at the dark windows of the shut convenience shop, wondering what it was that caught his attention.

 

Hearing scuffled footsteps, Kyuhyun turned fully to see two men standing a little away from him.

 

Apprehension rushed through him at seeing them.

 

“Evening,” they greeted him and Kyuhyun nodded slowly in response, forcing his spine to turn his back on them and not to run for his home.

 

He took three steps when he heard them begin to follow him.

 

_Don’t panic. They could just be going the same way._

Despite trying to calm his pounding heart, he realised he couldn’t lead them to his house – just in case - and looked around him for ideas of where he could go and still remain safe.

 

Deciding he’ll lead them to the park that was a street away, he would be able to use that to hide and lope back on himself without them knowing.

 

Passing his house, he tried to keep his steps calm and normal, as if he hadn’t noticed he was being followed.

 

“You spooked him.” Kyuhyun’s heart tried to ram itself up into his throat at the whisper from behind him.

 

_If I need to fight, what was it that Sungmin said I should aim for straightaway? What did he say to avoid or do???_

 

Turning the corner, Kyuhyun gasped in shock as a pair of hands grabbed and shoved him against the brick wall of someone’s property wall.

 

Swallowing the fear that was choking him, Kyuhyun stared at the men.

 

“What do you want?” he asks, voice shaken. “Money?”

 

One of the men glanced down the street they just left whilst the one who was still holding Kyuhyun shook his head.

 

“You caught our attention on the bus,” the male tells him, and Kyuhyun tries to summon up enough courage so that he can break free.

 

It was only now that Kyuhyun could pick up the strong smell of alcohol.

 

If he shoves hard enough, the alcohol will have slowed down the man’s reflexes so that he could fall over, maybe knocking into his mate and it would give Kyuhyun enough time to race to his house and call the police.

 

“-not often we find attractive ones like you,” Kyuhyun snapped from his thoughts as he slowly moved from the wall, frowning at the male’s words.

 

“What?” he asked in confusion, hissing in pain as he was shoved back into the wall, his movements not as secret as he thought.

 

“Dude, hurry up,” his mate hisses urgently. “I think someone is coming.”

 

Kyuhyun stills at the predatory look in the male’s eyes and jerks away as the man leans towards him.

 

“Until next time,” the male whispers to him and Kyuhyun can hardly breathe.

 

The male lets him go and Kyuhyun sags to the floor, hands scrambling for his phone as they turn and run back the way they came.

 

Seeing the dead screen, Kyuhyun was too afraid to go around the corner to get home.

 

_They’re coming back for me._

Kyuhyun starts to shake and forces his body to get him home, not liking that there isn’t any sound or sign of the two males in the long street, or the person who had caused them to run away.

 

Rushing to his home, Kyuhyun feels like he’s fighting against a timer to get into his house before they come for him.

 

Once in the safety of the house, he slumps against the front door, hand clutching the handle.

 

_I need to report this._

But Kyuhyun can’t move. The automatic hallway light goes out and he’s plunged into darkness, causing him to make a strangled noise of fear as he imagines them lurking in the darkness.

 

He sits like that until his sister comes home. Eyes locked on the darkness, frightened.

 

 

 

Donghae winced at the sound of the toolbox dropping.

 

“What did you just say?” Siwon and Hyukjae demanded at the same time, twin expressions of disbelief on their faces.

 

Donghae waved them away from their human workers and led them into one of the finished rooms in the gallery.

 

“I need you to shift into your canine form,” he repeated to Siwon, ignoring Hyukjae’s look of helplessness.

 

Siwon’s mouth opened and Hyukjae slapped a hand over it. “You said you took care of it!” Hyukjae accused him, ignoring Siwon’s muffled complaint.

 

“No, I said I’ll sort it, but I haven’t been able to yet.” Donghae corrected his friend.

 

“Why not?” Hyukjae snapped, slapping the back of Siwon’s head for him to be quiet.

 

 _Because I can’t just waltz into the vet practise and expect Kyuhyun to have a conversation with me for no reason. Oh and speaking of the vet, my mind sort of goes blank around him,_ Donghae vented to himself, eyes narrowing at Hyukjae in warning.

“It needs to be done in a proper manner,” Donghae explained when Hyukjae dropped his eyes. “Kyuhyun is perceptive and curious; I need to work around that without rousing more suspicions from the male.”

 

Siwon ripped Hyukjae’s hand from his mouth. “I’m confused,” he whined. “Who is Kyuhyun and why do you need me to be in my canine form?”

 

Hyukjae explained what had happened earlier this week, and Siwon immediately shot Donghae a wary look.

 

“Please say you’re not going to take me to the vets,” he pleaded, and Donghae gave him a reassuring smile that had the taller, muscular male whining in complaint.

 

“But there’s nothing wrong with me to see a vet!” Siwon argued.

 

The silence pretty much answered and Siwon looked at them both in betrayal.

 

“Fine,” the male huffed in defeat. “Just don’t hurt me too much.”

 

 

 

As the day got on, the scared flutters in his stomach grew.

 

The police had reassured him and his sister that they’ll patrol the area, as well as seeing if the convenience store’s CTV caught their identity.

 

But Kyuhyun was still nervous to go home after seeing his last patient.

 

Stepping from his consulting room and forcing himself to push aside his fear, he looked down at the document that told him his next patient.

 

He blinked down at the name in surprise.

 

“You have more than one dog?” he said instead of calling the animal’s name, eyes rising to look at the smiling man who was coming towards him.

 

“I’m a dog lover,” Donghae told him as he carried the chocolate Labrador into Kyuhyun’s room.

 

Immediately, Kyuhyun’s attention went to the big dog. It looked so depressed with life, with its tail tucked between its legs and its ears flat to its head.

 

“What’s got you so down?” he softly cooed to the animal when Donghae had laid him on the black table, hands moving to softly stroke its head.

 

The dog blinked as if it had been in a daze and stared at Kyuhyun, its eyes widening slightly as Kyuhyun ran his eyes over the dog’s body.

 

“You told the nurse that his paw is injured?” Kyuhyun asked Donghae, and Donghae motioned to the dog’s front paw.

 

“I just noticed him limping at home and immediately brought him here,” Donghae told him, tone worried as Kyuhyun bent down slightly to inspect the paw gently.

 

The dog gave a painful whine as soon as he lifted it.

 

“I know it hurts,” Kyuhyun soothed as his fingers carefully felt the paw, concentrating on feeling and looking for what may be the cause to the dog’s pain.

 

“Is he very active?” Kyuhyun asked.

 

“He likes to bother Hae, so they’re often chasing each other.” Donghae tells him, and the dog lets out a small whine of complaint.

 

Kyuhyun automatically coos reassuringly at it, eyes still drawn to the dog’s rough pads, fingers softly pressing around.

 

“His pads feel fine, nothing lodged between them or any cuts,” Kyuhyun informs him, hands slowly moving up.

 

The dog jerks with a painful yelp that has both Kyuhyun and Donghae rushing to soothe him.

 

“I think he’s sprained his leg,” Kyuhyun mutters as he feels around the wrist, noticing the tenderness and the increase of vocal discomfort from the poor animal.

 

“So it’s not broken?” Donghae asks eagerly.

 

Kyuhyun shakes his head. “He’s most probably pulled it whilst running and playing. It’s not uncommon for overly active dogs to sprain their legs, since this part,” Kyuhyun motions and Donghae comes closer to see, “is just like how our wrists and ankles are, they’re easy to twist or sprain.”

 

 Donghae hums in acknowledgement, and Kyuhyun’s body suddenly realises how close the other male is.

 

 _Would it be rude to ask him what he uses?_ Kyuhyun wonders to himself as he inhales the male’s scent. It wasn’t something he’s smelt before; it was like a soft earthy musk that reminded Kyuhyun of his hiking trips when he was younger.

 

He had smelt it when he last spoke to the male, but assumed it was a smell carried in from outside.

 

Kyuhyun watches as the male’s hands stroke the animal, murmuring softly to him and Kyuhyun can’t help but smile.

 

“Do you have any pets?” Donghae asks him and Kyuhyun shakes his head as he moves to get what he needs.

 

“My father isn’t an animal lover,” he says as he retrieves a sterile pack of white bandages. “And since I still live under his roof, I have to abide by his rules.”

 

Kyuhyun freezes at his own admittance of living with his parents still, but then again, he was only twenty-five, so it shouldn’t be something to be ashamed off.

 

If he’s still there in five years though, then he’ll be ashamed.

“How many have you got?” Kyuhyun asks before Donghae could ask him any more questions.

 

“A few,” Donghae vaguely says, and Kyuhyun forces himself not to press further, despite his curiosity over the vagueness.

 

It wasn’t like he was going to judge the male or anything. Though, he may if none of them had any form of identification on them.

 

As Kyuhyun gently begins to wrap the white roll around the dog’s wrist, Donghae falls quiet.

 

Kyuhyun looks up to see that the dog was watching its owner, and glances to see Donghae doing the same.

 

Kyuhyun feels uncomfortable and drops his eyes, declaring that Donghae and his pets are a perfect match since both dogs have been a little....unusual. Just like their owner.

 

 

 

 _Are you sure he’s interested?_ Siwon questions through the link Donghae opened as Kyuhyun works on his leg. _He looks like he’s just doing his job and asking questions that he needs answering._

_He looked too curious,_ Donghae defends himself.

_Well I think you’ve blown it out of proportion._

“How is Hae?”Kyuhyun suddenly questions, causing Donghae to jerk in surprise and for Siwon to stare at the vet in confusion.

_Please don’t tell me you used your real name when he treated you,_ Siwon groans through the link.

 

 _Hyukjae’s fault,_ Donghae growls back. _The idiot called me it._

“Donghae?” Kyuhyun pauses from his wrapping to look at Donghae, eyebrow raised slightly.

“He’s fine,” he smiles at the vet.

 

“That’s good.” Kyuhyun’s face drops to look back at his work. “I did some research though.”

 

 _What?_  Both Siwon and Donghae say at the exact same time; both of them staring at the vet in barely concealed panic.

 

“It’s rare, but there have been cases of canines having impressive healing capabilities,” Kyuhyun continues, completely unaware to the growing tension in the room.

 

“And where did you find this out?” Donghae lightly questions, ignoring the twitch in his muscles.

 

“Erm, it was a Swedish vet who wrote the article in English,” Kyuhyun tells him and cuts the bandage roll.

 

 _Donghae..._ Siwon almost hysterically calls his name through the link and he mutes it.

 

“I didn’t know you could speak English well,” he tries to compliment, and Kyuhyun shrugs his slender shoulders.

 

“I’m having a friend translate it for me, just to be certain I’m right.”

 

Siwon barks suddenly, startling the vet, his eyes locked on Donghae.

 

“Be good,” he orders, and Siwon whines desperately.

 

“Almost done,” Kyuhyun soothes, mistaking Siwon’s whines for being impatient when he was really trying to get Donghae to do something.

 

“What time does your shift end?” Donghae asks, hand moving to press down on the back of Siwon’s neck, fingers discreetly and slowly pressing down in a warning.

 

Both he and Siwon stiffen at the brief hint of fear in the air.

 

“You’re my last,” Kyuhyun says as he hurries to fasten the supportive wrap on Siwon’s leg.

 

Eyeing Kyuhyun carefully, Donghae decides to investigate.

 

“Do you always work this late?”

 

Kyuhyun hums. “We’re understaffed at the moment.”

 

“Do you drive or walk home?”

 

Another hint of fear leaks into the air, stronger this time.

 

Siwon whines.

 

“I take the bus and walk.”

 

“Aren’t you worried about someone attacking you?” Donghae asks softly, wondering if his hunch is about to be confirmed.

 

Kyuhyun’s fear rises and stings Donghae’s nose, causing a reaction inside of him that has him firmly grabbing control over it before he can act it out.

 

 _He’s been attacked before,_ Siwon rushes out as soon as Donghae un-mutes the link.

 

“I can handle myself,” Kyuhyun says tightly, though all Donghae can see and hear is Kyuhyun’s fear.

 

Someone has scared him, possibly harmed him.

 

The shifter inside him let out a snarl, and he gritted his teeth and turned his back on Kyuhyun as the male cleaned up.

 

He had been trying to ignore Kyuhyun’s scent, but it was impossible to ignore the tickle over his skin as the scent wrapped around him and his mind.

 

Kyuhyun was different. Donghae’s instincts and reactions to his scent and presence were proof enough, but even Siwon had noticed Kyuhyun, and that further cemented the fact in Donghae’s mind.

 

There was something about Kyuhyun’s scent that caught a shifter’s attention.

 

That sent alarm bells ringing.

 

 _Siwon, I need an honest answer from you,_ Donghae demanded over the link, not listening to Kyuhyun’s directions of caring for Siwon’s injury.

 

_You know I can’t lie to you._

 

 _Kyuhyun’s scent,_ Donghae began _, how is your shifter reacting to it?_

 

Reluctance came through the link and Donghae let out a quiet snarl that was thankfully hidden because Kyuhyun dropped something.

 

 _It’s aware of Kyuhyun,_ Siwon admits. _It’s confused and demands to know who he is._

_You do know that a human can’t entice our shifters awake like this, right?_ Donghae tells him as he automatically signs the document that Kyuhyun shoves at him.

_But I can smell that he’s human,_ Siwon argues.

 

“You can go now, just follow my instructions.” Kyuhyun tells him as he opens the door to the room.

 

Siwon hops down off the table and hobbles to the door to sniff Kyuhyun.

 

Kyuhyun chuckles and strokes Siwon’s head.

 

 _Definitely human, but that undertone along with it is confusing us,_ Siwon’s tells him as Donghae moves to them.

“At least he isn’t like Hae who loved to sniff me,” Kyuhyun jokes as Donghae nears them.

 

 _What are you doing?_ Siwon suddenly demands in his head as Donghae walks past them both.

 

_Paying your bill._

Donghae ignores Siwon’s spluttering in his head as he converses with the receptionist and pays Siwon’s bill.

 

 _We’re leaving?!_   Siwon shrieks at him when Donghae comes to pick him up.

 

“If his leg isn’t better in the next few days, bring him back,” Kyuhyun tells him as he rushes to the entrance doors and opens it for Donghae.

 

 _What are planning?_   Siwon demands as Donghae says goodbye to the vet, the animal’s body tensed with the urge to leap from Donghae’s hold.

 

As soon as he’s got them both inside his jeep, Siwon starts nutting the back of Donghae’s seat with his head.

 

 _What are you going to do?_  Siwon whines to him as Donghae eases them out of the street and around the corner where he can hide the jeep, and also see who comes and goes.

 

“Watch and follow him,” Donghae finally tells him.

 

_And then what?_

Donghae doesn’t answer him. He just settles into his seat, eyes locked on the mouth of the street, waiting for Kyuhyun to start his journey home.

 

He was meant to get rid of Kyuhyun from his life after lying to the male, but here he was, ready to protect him.

 

It made no sense, but with both his and Siwon’s shifter reacting to Kyuhyun, that alone was enough to force him to investigate the vet.

 

_Shouldn’t you call Hyukjae?_

Donghae shakes his head. “He didn’t react to Kyuhyun’s scent.”

 

He can feel Siwon’s thoughtful pause through their link.

 

 _That makes sense,_ the male says after awhile. _He isn’t like us._

Donghae grunts in response.

_...Do you want me to be quiet?_

“For now, yes.”

 

He hears Siwon lie down in the backseat, a heavy sigh leaving the dog, but he heard or felt nothing from the male through their link.

 

Ten minutes later, Donghae eases his jeep forward, eyes locked on Kyuhyun’s profile.

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

 

 

 

 

Kyuhyun can’t stop himself from searching the bus for those faces. He makes sure to sit as close to the door he can get and keeps his attention focused on everything around him.

 

But it still wasn’t enough to lessen the fear building in his stomach.

 

His sister, who was older than him by two years, had text him before he left to reassure him that she was in the house, camping at their front window so that she could see him and come to greet him halfway.

 

Kyuhyun had texted back, telling her that she doesn’t need to go that far, and got a reply back that had an emoticon sticking its tongue out.

 

Stepping off the bus, Kyuhyun was starting to feel ill from the nervousness fluttering through his stomach and the slight panicked racing of his heart as he began to head into his neighbourhood.

 

Carrying his key to his locker in his fist with the key part sticking out, Kyuhyun felt a little better about the weapon inside his pocket as he got closer to where he lived.

 

_They’ll probably have been too drunk to even remember what they did or where I live,_ he thinks to himself, inhaling the cold air to stop himself from panicking as he began up the street’s incline.

 

Looking up at his house, Kyuhyun faintly sees his sister’s profile in the window.

 

_All is fine,_ he sighs to himself as he sees his sister wave and waves back.

 

Coming close to the store, Kyuhyun feels his lungs constrict, hand freezing to a halt.

 

That isn’t his sister waving.

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t know what floors him first, horror or rage.

 

As his long legs race up the bank, Kyuhyun fails to hear anything other than the sound of his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

 

So when something grabs him from behind and yanks him backwards, his hand clutching the key in his pocket swings out, and he stabs it into the person’s upper arm.

 

“Fuck!” A familiar voice hisses in pain, and Kyuhyun is so disorientated as his world uprights itself and he finds himself sprawled on the floor with someone pinning him.

 

“Find the girl!” the familiar voice barks out, and Kyuhyun goes wild.

 

“Touch her and you fucking die you fucking bastards!” Kyuhyun screams as he fights to get from underneath the person.

 

“Let me go!” he yells as he whips his hair from out of his face and finally gets the chance to see the person for the first time.

 

Kyuhyun’s body freezes as he stares up at the male.

 

“Donghae?” he says slowly, and wonders if maybe he has dozed off on the bus and is currently dreaming, because why the fuck would his patient’s owner be here?

 

Donghae, who was looking up towards his house, looks down at Kyuhyun who’s body sags immediately, fear rushing through him at the male’s dark, furious eyes.

 

“Be quiet.” Donghae very quietly orders, and since Kyuhyun’s lips can’t open, he nods mutely, close to almost shitting himself from fear.

 

“They’ve ran,” an unfamiliar voice shouts from the direction of his home, and Kyuhyun can’t comprehend what that means.

 

“The girl?” Donghae prompts, eyes leaving Kyuhyun to look back up at the house to where the stranger was.

 

The silence is deafening, and Kyuhyun can’t breathe.

 

_No, no, no, no, no,_ Kyuhyun chants in his head as tears well up in his eyes.

 

“-the ambulance is on its way,” Kyuhyun hears over the hysteria in his head and Kyuhyun pushes at Donghae.

 

“S-she’s alive?” he stutters as Donghae moves out of his way, and he almost falls down in his haste to get up to the house.

 

The stranger nods before rushing back into his home, and Kyuhyun ignores Donghae’s calling of his name.

 

Stepping into his home, Kyuhyun runs for the living room and falls in front of his sister who was lying on her side, tied up against their sofa.

 

She was unconscious, blood matting the side of her temple and her brown hair.

 

A lot of blood.

 

Kyuhyun was shaking, close to hyperventilating as he ran his eyes over her body, looking for more injuries.

 

The rope that had been tied around her chest, pinning her arms to her back, was already cut, but the rope was also tied tightly around her ankles to the point you could see it was pinching her skin, so Kyuhyun dug his fingers into the knot to begin loosening it.

 

“Her chest is rising normally,” he states confidently as he works, his eyes still looking for other injuries.

 

The faint siren could be heard as Donghae silently stepped into the room.

 

“Ara? I need you to wake up, Ara.” Kyuhyun called his sister’s name, doing it repeatedly in hope of rousing her.

 

“Were they shifters?” Donghae questioned quietly, and Kyuhyun glanced over his shoulder to see the male was creeping around his living room.

 

“One of them was,” the stranger beside Kyuhyun confirmed, and he shot the pair of them confused looks.

 

“Why are you even here?” he demands, rising from his sister’s feet once the rope fell loose, his eyes locked on Donghae whom was watching him from the window.

 

“When the paramedics come,” Donghae begins, the siren getting closer, “I need you to remain calm and do what I say.”

 

“Excuse me?” Kyuhyun spits out, his confusion giving way to the anger that had been pushed aside.

 

That intimidating aura that Kyuhyun sensed when he first met Donghae returned in the male.

 

“Hae,” the stranger behind Kyuhyun softly called. “Go get some fresh air.”

 

_Fresh air?! The fuck is his problem?_ Kyuhyun seethes to himself and turns his back on Donghae to stare at the stranger who had a finger on Ara’s pulse point, keeping note of her heart rate.

 

“Who are you?” he demands as he falls back his knees to shift the rope away from her.

 

“I work for Donghae,” the male tells him softly, not responding the edge in Kyuhyun’s tone.

 

“You’re meant to say your name, not your occupation.” Kyuhyun bites out.

 

Kyuhyun flings the rope away and feels as if he can’t get control. The past five minutes has felt like a blur of emotions, causing him to be flipping from worry to anger every few seconds, and as the lights from the ambulance shone in the dimly lit room, Kyuhyun was at a loss to where he should direct all of this.

 

The paramedics arrived, and before Kyuhyun could tell them, Donghae took control and briefed them on what had happened.

 

Kyuhyun rounded on the male, anger burning in his stomach – it was his sister that was hurt, not Donghae’s, but the room spun slightly.

 

Gasping in surprise, he automatically reached out for something to steady him and jerked at the touch of hands grabbing his upper arms.

 

“Easy,” Donghae softly whispered to him, steadying him as Kyuhyun’s head filled with a ringing noise.

 

“I think I’m going to-” Kyuhyun attempted to inform him he was going to faint or be sick, but his lips refused to work further as his knees buckled.

 

“And the shock has arrived,” Donghae grunted as Kyuhyun sagged against him.

 

Kyuhyun tried to fight the pull, but he wasn’t able to run away from the darkness.

 

Just before he lost consciousness, he could faintly hear Donghae shouting, but was unable to make sense of the words.

 

All he could make sense of was the earthy scent coming from Donghae.

 

 

 

Donghae couldn’t stop pacing.

 

His shifter was clawing at him, giving him bursts of energy as it rattled his mind.

 

He could sense Siwon’s unease, knew it was from how much anger was rolling off him and how close his shifter was to the surface.

 

This was so not what he had planned tonight.

 

“How are they?” Donghae growled out, shaking his head and clearing his throat to get rid of the growl that felt like it was lodged in his throat.

 

“His sister is still unconscious,” Siwon tells him. “The doctors are worried about the impact to her brain, so they’re keeping her sedated until they can get a clearer reading when the slight swelling goes down.”

 

Donghae nods sharply, eyes locked on the white floor as he continued to pace.

 

“Kyuhyun is conscious, but shaken.”

 

Donghae’s path turns and he marches down the corridor, ignoring the startled call of his name.

 

He can’t stay in this hospital with his shifter being so close to the surface, and he snaps this to Siwon through the link he still has open with the male.

 

Jumping into his jeep, Donghae turfs out of the hospital parking lot and heads to the place that he can exhaust himself enough so that his shifter will be sated.

 

_Keep an eye on them and don’t let any more harm come to them,_ Donghae orders to Siwon and mutes the connection just as the jeep swerves, his vision blinking in and out of focus as he yanks it back into the lane.

Donghae never got a chance to see the shifter, but according to what Siwon told him, he wasn’t the same breed as them.

 

A lower breed has dared to inflict harm on someone Donghae knows, someone who has healed and helped him, and Donghae was betting that was why his shifter was so riled up.

Also, add the fact that Kyuhyun was able to attract their shifters attention, could be another reason why his shifter wasn’t reacting too well to the situation.

 

Donghae will get to the bottom of it, but right now, he needs to work himself into the ground to get rid of this energy and to calm his inner beast.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

 

 

Kyuhyun was numb.

 

He was pretty sure his butt would be hurting him due to sitting for so long at his sister’s bedside, but he couldn’t feel anything at the moment.

 

He needed to call his parents, tell them about Ara, and that it was too dangerous for them to return to their home.

 

But he couldn’t bring himself to leave her side. Not yet.

 

The doctors have told him about her condition so far, knew that she could be asleep for a few days, or possibly a few weeks. It all depended on the damage to her brain.

 

Kyuhyun dropped his head onto his knees and clutched at his hair in distress.

 

He knew it wasn’t his fault, but right now, Kyuhyun felt like it was.

 

The police were waiting to get his statement, and he couldn’t hide in this room forever.

 

But he didn’t know what had happened. It had happened so fast that even now he’s struggling to make sense of it, trying to remember every little thing and finding it hard to do.

 

Even more so trying to make sense why Donghae was even there.

 

If he wanted answers, he’ll have to move.

 

Forcing his stiff body from the chair, he placed a gentle kiss on his sister’s forehead and left the room.

 

Sounds assaulted his ears immediately, causing him to wince since he’d been sitting in near silence for the past few hours.

 

He saw two police officers waiting down the corridor, and as he made his way to them, he sped up at seeing who they were speaking to.

 

“-and how do you know Kyuhyun and his sister?” one of the officers questioned Donghae as Kyuhyun got close enough to hear their conversation.

 

Donghae looked at him immediately, despite his approach being quiet.

 

“I only know Kyuhyun,” Donghae explains. “We met through work.”

 

The other officer who had been quiet notices Kyuhyun and surprise lights his face.

 

“Are you ready to talk now?” the male asks him, and Kyuhyun nods as he comes to a stand near Donghae.

 

“Would you like to do it somewhere more private?” the officer asks, and Kyuhyun can feel Donghae watching him as he nods.

 

As he follows behind the officers, Kyuhyun can feel the spot on his back where Donghae’s eyes are fixed on.

 

 

 

Kyuhyun thought he felt numb fifteen minutes ago, now he was raging.

 

“I was almost assaulted the other night, my sister was assaulted tonight,” Kyuhyun grits out, fists clenched on his lap, “and you’re sitting there, telling me that there are no traces of our attackers?”

 

The officer sighs and his partner takes over. “We’ve checked the scene, but we weren’t able to find anything that can be used to identify the attackers.”

 

“That’s ridiculous!” Kyuhyun vents, his anger finally snapping his control.

 

“Sir, I know you’ve been through a lot,” the officer consoled him, but his tone was stern, “but stay calm.”

 

Kyuhyun almost bit his tongue off in order not to say the remark that was dying to be said.

 

“Your friend wasn’t able to get a good look either, so we have nothing to build a case on,” the officer continues, and Kyuhyun can taste blood in his mouth now.

 

“So you expect us to go back to that house and pretend that they’re not going to come back and try again?” Kyuhyun says, his voice was far from being calm, but he couldn’t shake the anger loose.

 

“We’ll have a police car on duty-” the officer began and Kyuhyun cut him off with a scoff.

 

“Because that helped in the first place,” he mutters sarcastically.

 

The officer carries on without acknowledging him, “-while you stay with your friend who you know from work.”

 

Kyuhyun’s anger paused at that to allow confusion to take its turn over him.

 

“What?” he asked dumbly.

 

“I told them that you can stay with me until we can catch who attacked your sister,” Donghae’s voice comes from behind him, and Kyuhyun almost breaks his neck in his haste to look behind him.

 

Donghae’s eyes are commanding as soon as they make eye contact, and Kyuhyun remembers what the male had ordered in his living room.

 

_‘I need you to remain calm and do what I say’._

 

Kyuhyun forces the denial away from his lips and turns to nod in acceptance at the police officers.

 

As the officers rise to leave, Donghae takes a seat opposite Kyuhyun.

 

Time seems to drag until the officers are gone from them, and Kyuhyun finally snaps.

 

“You better start explaining what the fuck you’re doing,” Kyuhyun hisses quietly to the male, acutely aware of passing nurses and doctors.

 

Donghae sighs and it sounds tired. Kyuhyun pulls away from his emotions to really look at the male.

 

The male looks like how Kyuhyun feels. Exhausted and a mess.

 

“You didn’t look like that earlier,” Kyuhyun states, more to himself than to Donghae.

 

“I followed you home because you were scared,” Donghae says, bringing Kyuhyun back to the question he has asked.

 

Kyuhyun narrows his eyes at the male. “How did you know I was scared?”

 

Donghae gives him a look that screamed he was losing patience with Kyuhyun’s hostile attitude towards him.

 

Kyuhyun decides to watch the nurse who was passing by in order to escape the look.

 

“I just knew, and it’s a good thing I followed you because if you went into that house, who knows what could have happened to you both.”

 

Kyuhyun gives Donghae a dirty look at the visual his words cooked up in his mind.

 

“So now you want to be even more of a hero by putting a roof over my head?” Kyuhyun asks him, lips twisting slightly.

 

Donghae’s eyes suddenly seem a lot more threatening at his dig. “You don’t have a choice.”

 

“Fuck you, I do have a choice,” Kyuhyun snarls to the male and abruptly leaves his seat, heading back to his sister’s room.

 

“No you don’t, Kyuhyun.” Donghae calls from behind him. “The police need to do their job without worrying where the fuck you are every night.”

 

Kyuhyun spins to glare at the male. “I have friends - something that you’re not.”

 

Donghae chuckles, but it sends a cold shiver down Kyuhyun’s spine.

 

“I thought you were smart,” Donghae says, and Kyuhyun feels like he’s an inch high at the tone, “but you’re willing to put friends in danger, than stay with a person who can protect and help you.”

 

Donghae turns and begins to walk away, and Kyuhyun hurries after him.

 

“How?” he whispers, grabbing Donghae’s elbow to stop him from leaving, “how can you help me?”

 

His back to Kyuhyun still, Donghae says, “come with me, and you will see.”

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

 

 

 

By the time they left the hospital with a reluctant Kyuhyun and arrived at Donghae’s home, it was close to being 5AM.

 

Kyuhyun had kept dozing off next to him as he drove and would wake up with a startled jerk after a few minutes, causing Donghae to reassure him that he was safe and that he can go to sleep.

 

_Not that the vet paid any attention to my reassurance_ , Donghae thinks to himself as he leads the vet up the stone steps to his home.

 

“You live alone?” Kyuhyun questions from behind him.

 

Donghae nods as he enters the front door’s code for the second lock on his property.

 

As the door chimes in welcome, the entranceway lights up automatically.

 

“Looks...cosy,” Kyuhyun compliments politely as Donghae shuts the door behind him.

 

Donghae can’t help the playful smile forming on his face as he looks around what Kyuhyun sees.

 

The entrance to his home was a small room with only a traditional sliding partitioned door that was shut; giving the illusion his house was going to be equally small behind it.

 

It was a shame it was dark outside, Kyuhyun wasn’t able to see just how his home wasn’t small.

 

Sliding the door open, the lights slowly came on at his entrance, casting the soft lightening he preferred across the space.

 

His smile grew when he heard Kyuhyun’s shocked inhale.

 

“I’ll give you a proper tour tomorrow when it’s daylight,” he says as he leads a stunned Kyuhyun into his home.

 

His house was L shaped, meaning that the entranceway directly faced the open space of his living area with the kitchen and dining area to the left. Due to the way the other houses in this area were built close together and on a slight incline, they followed the same L design as Donghae’s.

 

From the street, the house look normal and average, it’s when you get in and you see that the other side of the house was made up of glass instead of bricks and mortar.

 

Donghae had bought the place purely because of the view down into the garden on the ground floor. The ceiling to floor windows overlooked the garden, insuring that you could see nature from every room.

 

It satisfied his inner shifter.

 

“You must have a fancy job in order to afford a place like this,” Kyuhyun comments as he wanders over the glass to look at his garden down below.

 

“I own a building company if you want to class that as fancy.” Donghae prods the male’s shoulder as he passes him, heading for the stairs located in the dining area.

 

Kyuhyun follows him up the stairs, and it’s only then that Donghae realises the male has come empty handed.

 

Pausing on the landing, Donghae looks over Kyuhyun’s body whilst the oblivious male looks at a painting he has on the wall.

 

_He’s not even close to my build_ , Donghae sighs to himself and shows Kyuhyun to the spare room.

 

“There’s only this room beside my own, which is next door,” Donghae tells him as he goes around turning the soft lighting on. “Work on the ground floor has been put on hold for now.”

 

Kyuhyun stands awkwardly in the big room as he watches Donghae opened the bathroom door connected to the bedroom.

 

“I’ll get someone to go to your home tomorrow while you’re at work so that you have clothes and stuff,” he tells the male as he moves to leave.

 

Going into his own room, Donghae hurries to his dressing room and looks through the racks of clothing he owns for something that Kyuhyun could sleep in and wear for tomorrow.

 

Donghae picks up on Kyuhyun entering his bedroom and almost rips the metal railing from the wall as he listens to the male move.

 

“I don’t need your clothes,” Kyuhyun calls out, unsure of where Donghae was since he hadn’t bothered to put his main light on in his room.

 

Donghae yanks down the t-shirt and hurries out of the room to prevent Kyuhyun from going anything further.

 

Kyuhyun gasps when his searching hands make contact with Donghae’s body, and Donghae lightly grips the male’s elbow and leads him back to his spare room.

 

“I have one rule,” Donghae says as he tries to bite back the emotion ripping through him as they approach Kyuhyun’s door.

 

“Only one?” Kyuhyun questions as he tugs for Donghae to release him.

 

“Do not enter my room without my permission.”

 

Kyuhyun gives him a strange look at that, the light escaping from his room showing the male’s confusion, but he nods.

 

Donghae hands him the t-shirt. “I’ll take you to work tomorrow. What time is your shift?”

 

Kyuhyun mumbles what time he’s due in for work, and Donghae glances down at his watch.

 

“Get some rest, Kyuhyun.” He tells the male and waves for him to into the room. “You don’t have a lot of time to sleep before you have to be in.”

 

Kyuhyun stiffens slightly at Donghae’s words.

 

Sensing that the vet was about to argue with him, Donghae turns and leaves him, shutting his door quietly on the male’s surprised face.

 

Donghae needed fresh air.

 

As he hurried to open one of windows that opened a little, Donghae inhaled the night air desperately.

 

Kyuhyun’s scent was in his room. It’ll be all over his house soon.

 

Donghae was starting to regret bringing the male home now.

 

Scratching his arms to get rid of the strange tickling sensation, Donghae tried not to watch Kyuhyun moving around in his room.

 

The male had disappeared into the bathroom, and Donghae forced his eyes to look down at his tranquil garden.

 

Maybe he should go sit in it for a while. Maybe he should sleep there. That way Kyuhyun’s scent wouldn’t be annoying him.

 

Donghae had spent an hour physically exhausting his body so that he could calm his inner beast, and thought that he had managed to do so, but stepping back into the hospital and being near Kyuhyun, his shifter refused to settle.

 

_You need to be on alert,_ his shifter argued against his thoughts. _He needs to be protected._

 

“I get that he’s caught your attention,” Donghae groaned tiredly to his shifter. “But you forget that I’m the one who has to do the running around to keep you in check.”

 

_You wouldn’t need to if you just let me be in control._

“No.”Donghae snarled in warning, pushing his shifter’s presence away from his mind.

 

_I can keep us all safe if you just allow me to have control._

 

“I said, no.” Donghae snarled, ignoring the thoughts his shifter was trying to embed into his mind.

 

If he allowed his shifter to take complete control of him, Donghae wouldn’t be in his human form, or his nonthreatening ‘pet’ form.

 

He would be the animal that would only act on his shifter instinct.

 

He says animal, but Donghae knows that he’s different than those below him. His ‘animal’ is something more dangerous, and much more in tune with its nature.

 

There is a reason why other shifters considered canine-shifters to be at the top.

 

Like all shifter breeds, a chain of command is often involved. You’re born into a group from that chain of command, and nothing can change the status or title you’re born with.

 

Canine-shifters are considered to be related to wolves, so they follow that hierarchy of power and dominance.

 

Only, it’s more heightened.

 

Kyuhyun catches Donghae’s attention immediately, even though he had been staring down at his garden.

 

Kyuhyun is wearing his t-shirt, and it’s so baggy on the male that it swamps his tall, slender frame.

 

Donghae notices how much taller the male is due to how short his t-shirt is on the male’s pale thighs.

 

 A strange sensation began to come over Donghae’s body, causing him to touch himself to figure out what the fuck it was.

 

As he nipped his skin, noting the slight numbness and tingle to it, Donghae backed away from the window, forehead scrunched up in confusion as the sensation travelled down him.

   

“What the fuck?” he whispered to himself a second later when it vanished just as suddenly as it had appeared.

 

Shaking his head to get rid of the beginning of a headache, Donghae forced his tired body towards his bathroom.

 

With the way everything was currently going, Donghae needed to bring in some help because he had no fucking idea what the hell was going on.

 

Donghae hoped that by bringing in help, the huge question mark hanging over Kyuhyun’s head would finally be solved for him.

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

 

 

 

“Do I tell anyone?” Kyuhyun asks as Donghae pulls into the street the vet practise is located in.

 

“Just your boss,” Donghae tells him as he slows to park in the spot from last time, “so that he knows if you suddenly can’t make it into work it’s because of problems with your sister.”

 

Kyuhyun pauses as he went to open the door. “Do you plan on me missing work?”

 

Donghae shrugs his shoulders. “It’s just a precaution; it’s a perfect reason if anything were to happen.”

 

Kyuhyun’s throat tightens slightly in fear as he opens the door.

 

He jerks in shock when Donghae grabs his elbow, stilling him from getting out of the jeep.

 

“I promised you that I’ll keep you safe,” Donghae tells him thickly, and he sees the male’s entire body is rigid with tension.

 

“You can’t promise something like that,” Kyuhyun argues and tugs his elbow, “you can try, but you can’t promise me something like that.”

 

“So why did you come with me if you think like that?” Donghae questions him, hand still holding his elbow.

 

Kyuhyun glances at the vet practise and sighs softly, his tired body sagging slightly.

 

“I have no idea.”

 

A beat of silence, and then Donghae lets him go.

 

“I’ll be here when you finish.” The male reminds him as Kyuhyun gets out. “If you get out early-”

 

“-I’ll contact you,” Kyuhyun cuts off Donghae, eyes giving the male an annoyed look. “You’ve told me that five times already.”

 

“Just making sure it went in,” Donghae comments as he shifts into reverse.

 

Kyuhyun bristles at the male’s words, hand clenching the car door. “I’m not a child, Donghae.”

 

“You’re late.” Donghae states, completely ignoring what Kyuhyun had said. “Shut the door and go to work.”

 

Kyuhyun leaves the door open and takes long angry strides towards work, wishing he never went with the man last night.

 

 

 

Once Kyuhyun went past the doors to the practise, Donghae released his death grip on the steering wheel and leaned over to slam the passenger door shut.

 

The winter air had somewhat cleaned Kyuhyun’s scent from his car, but it still lingered, causing the slight shake in his hands to remain as he took in deep, calming breaths.

 

 _He either has no fear or he’s stupid,_ his shifter mutters to him, and Donghae notices the almost gleeful tone as he lowers his window to allow in more fresh air.

 

“He’s neither,” Donghae argues back as he forces himself to reverse away from the practise.

 

_So what is he then?_

“Ignorant.”

 

His shifter pauses at that, and Donghae feels – for the first time since last night – his shifter begin to settle as he drives away.

 

As his shifter slowly recedes away from his focus, Donghae breathes a sigh of relief, tension leaving his body.

 

He had called Siwon early this morning, since he pretty much had zero sleep, and the male was going to collect some stuff from Kyuhyun’s place for him and his sister.

 

Donghae had also called Hyukjae to update him on what had happened, and if the male could shout at him and remain alive afterwards, Donghae believed the shifter would’ve chewed his ear out.

 

Now, he was on his way to seek help.

 

Donghae was just hoping the male was willing to see him after all of these years.

 

 

 

Waiting outside of the male’s office, Donghae half-heartedly listened to the secretary working.

 

He was trying to remember the last time he seen the male. Must have been three or four years ago, just around the time that his grandfather died.

 

The door to the office opened to reveal his old friend.

 

Yunho immediately jolted at seeing him, surprise lighting his eyes.

 

“You’ve matured a lot since the last time we saw each other,” the male commented as Donghae rose from his seat.

 

“I’m looking more haggard today due to lack of sleep,” Donghae mumbled as Yunho waved for him to follow him into the office.

 

He saw Yunho shoot him a concerned look as he turned to shut the door.

 

“What’s wrong?” the male asked him softly as Donghae took a seat on the sofa in the male’s room.

 

Yunho was a canine-shifter too, but he was also a behavioural specialist for other breeds of shifters. If a shifter had a problem, Yunho’s clinic was where they came to seek help.

 

Yunho specialised in more than just that, he was also an avid researcher.

 

Just the type of person Donghae needed.

 

Donghae accepted the glass of water, a ‘thank you’ on the tip of his lips, when the older male dropped it on to his lap.

 

“Hyung!” Donghae complained loudly as he jerked to a stand, hands already using a small cushion to help soak up the water.

 

“Who can I smell on you?” Yunho demanded, voice slightly shaken.

 

Donghae stared at the male in confusion. “What?”

 

“There is another person’s scent on you,” Yunho snapped, eyes locking with Donghae’s. “Who is it?”

 

“A human,” Donghae slowly reveals, watching the older man intently.

 

His reaction to Kyuhyun’s scent was what he’d been hoping for.

 

“Is your shifter reacting to it?” he questioned Yunho, who nodded slowly as moved to sit away from Donghae.

 

“So I’m not going completely insane,” Donghae sighs with relief as he sits down and making sure to avoid the spilt water.

 

He felt Yunho watching him still and looked up.

 

“Can I meet this person today?” Yunho asks as soon as Donghae looks up.

 

Donghae squirm slightly at that. “He doesn’t know about shifters.”

 

 _Though I did accidently mention it in front of him in his living room, but he’s showed no signs of remembering that part from the hectic night,_ Donghae rambles the rest in his mind.

 

“Donghae,” Yunho’s tone dropped, causing Donghae’s shifter to edge closer.

 

Donghae shoves his shifter back and shakes his head. “He’s had a rough few days; I can’t spring this one on him.”

 

“How do you know this person?”

 

Donghae explains how he met Kyuhyun and why he’s still sticking around the human.

 

“So you’re keeping him safe from shifters?” Yunho clarifies and Donghae nods. “And you’re a 100% sure that it was shifters?”

 

“Siwon identified one male as a different shifter, the other was human,” Donghae repeats again, wondering what Yunho was getting at.

 

“I need to meet this human today, Donghae.” Yunho repeats his earlier request and Donghae feels annoyance rush through him.

 

“Why?” Donghae demands.

 

“Because what you have told me worries me greatly,” Yunho explains patiently. “No human should have this ability to catch a shifter’s attention.”

 

 “And by meeting him you will suddenly be able to make sense of it?” Donghae snipes, feeling his shifter push him from the annoyance he was feeling.

 

Yunho raises an eyebrow at his snipe. “Now, _that’s_ strange.”

 

“What is?” Donghae snaps as he clenches his fists and growls to his shifter to back off.

 

“You’re protectiveness over this human.”

 

Donghae scoffs at the male and shakes his head. “I’m only protecting him because my shifter demanded me to.”

 

“And why do you think that is?” Yunho questions him curiously, crossing a leg over his knee as he watches Donghae with interest.

 

“Because it’s confused,” Donghae states firmly.

 

 _Yunho isn’t threatening us, so back the fuck down,_ he hisses to his shifter as he feels it remain in his focus.

 

“Are you sure about that?” Yunho asks him softly, and Donghae frowns at the male in puzzlement.

 

“When did this turn into a session?” Donghae questions the male.

 

“I’m just worried,” Yunho tells him.

 

Donghae quietens at that. He knows, logically, that it’s best to have Yunho assess the situation as soon as possible, but here he was, arguing against the older male from meeting Kyuhyun.

 

Donghae rubbed his temples as he wondered what the fuck was wrong with him.

 

“Donghae?” Yunho called his name softly in concern.

 

“You can meet him tonight,” Donghae finds himself gritting it out as his shifter lashes into him for no reason, causing his muscles to tense as he blocked out the words it was hurling at him in fury.

 

“No offense,” Yunho begins hesitantly, “but you look slightly unstable right now.”

 

“I don’t know what the fuck his problem is right now, but my shifter has been unusually crowding my head the past few days,” Donghae admits through his teeth as he continues to mental tug-of-war with his shifter.

 

“Ever since you came into contact with this strange human?” Yunho guesses correctly, and Donghae nods.

 

“He’s making me a lot more edgy and short with people,” Donghae admits as his shifter starts to relent a bit, causing Donghae to sag a little from relief.

 

“I can tell.” Yunho states as he gets up, and Donghae tracks his movements, watching as the male unlocks a cupboard on the other side of the room.

 

Donghae starts to shake his head at seeing the pill bottle. “I don’t need drugs to keep in control.”

 

“It’s just a precaution,” Yunho reassures as he holds them out to Donghae. “They help relax - not subdue - your shifter.”

 

Donghae stares at the white bottle as he debates whether to take it or not.

 

“Taking it doesn’t make you look weak, Donghae.” Yunho softly says to him, and Donghae looks up to see the male’s gentle expression.

 

Yunho was far too good at his job.

 

Donghae swallows the lump in his throat and takes the bottle.

 

“I’ll use it if I start to doubt my control over him,” Donghae mutters as he pockets the bottle, and Yunho nods.

 

Donghae leaves Yunho’s office five minutes later after going over the plan for him meeting Kyuhyun tonight.

 

Donghae checked is phone again as he got into his jeep to see if he had anything from Kyuhyun.

 

Seeing nothing but phone calls from his onsite manager at the gallery, Donghae took a few minutes to ensure he was fine and that his shifter wasn’t going to bug him before he began to head to work.

 

 

 

Kyuhyun’s eyes were beginning to burn from exhaustion.

 

Looking at the clock in his consultation room, seeing it that it was after seven in the evening, Kyuhyun wondered if he could even remain awake until the end of this long shift.

 

He had an hour to go before he could go home.

 

Kyuhyun’s heart seized at the word ‘home’.

 

No, he can’t. He has to go back to Donghae’s. He has to go home with a stranger than go home and see his sister.

 

There wasn’t anything new happening to his sister. He had rung the hospital during his fifteen minute break, and the nurse had reassured him that she was still unconscious and unchanging.

 

There was also no news from the police, which wasn’t a surprise; Kyuhyun wasn’t even hoping anymore for help from them.

 

A knock on his door had him jolting up from his stool.

 

Taeyeon waved him to sit back down as she entered the room, and Kyuhyun smiled thankfully at seeing his mug in her hands.

 

“How are you even functioning looking like this?” She mutters in concern as she hands him his mug over, and Kyuhyun sniffs it and tries not to burn his tongue off in his haste to drink the hot chocolate.

 

“I’ve been worse,” he says after he’s took a hearty sip of the drink.

 

Taeyeon shakes her head. “Drink that, then finish writing up the notes behind you and go home,” she tells him softly, and gives him a stern look when he opens his mouth to argue.

 

“But that means you’ll be working longer,” Kyuhyun argues anyway.

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t like the look that graces her face, nor does he like what she says.

 

“The boss has decided to shut the practise at two in the morning from now on,” she says with a disapproving twist to her lips.

 

“We never shut.” Kyuhyun states as he stares at her. “Why the hell are we starting to shut now?”

 

Boa shrugs her shoulders. “I’m not liking it either, and I’m worried that this is the start of something.”

 

Kyuhyun’s hands clench around his mug in anger.

 

His boss was starting something alright; he’s going to change the way the practise operates in order to spend less money on the strays they keep getting.

 

Kyuhyun’s exhaustion takes a back seat as he returns to his work. His anger at his boss fuels him to ignore Taeyeon’s suggestion of going home early, and he completes his work and does more by the time his shift ends.

 

Kyuhyun is still pissed off about what his boss is trying to do when he gets into Donghae’s jeep and slams the door shut.

 

Donghae says nothing, but he can feel the confused stare from the male, but Kyuhyun is not in the mood to talk about it to him.

 

They drive to Donghae’s in silence.

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

 

 

 

Donghae’s pacing again.

 

Kyuhyun has been in his room ever since they came home, and he’s not spoken one word to Donghae at all.

 

Donghae’s shifter wasn’t responding well to the anger that was coming off Kyuhyun, so having to deal with that as well was causing Donghae to pace faster to burn off the need to question Kyuhyun.

 

Yunho was due to arrive in a few minutes with food, and Donghae still hasn’t managed to inform Kyuhyun of the meeting.

 

On the plus side, Siwon had dropped off some of Kyuhyun’s things this afternoon, so hopefully the vet will be able to feel more comfortable being here.

 

Hearing the sound of Kyuhyun moving on the landing, Donghae stopped his pacing and hurried to the fridge to get a drink.

 

As Kyuhyun came down the stairs, the traces of his anger had faded.

 

Shame his scent hasn’t.

 

Donghae almost wedged his head inside the refrigerator in order to escape it.

 

“Do you cook?” Kyuhyun asks as he comes near Donghae.

 

“Actually,” Donghae begins, figuring this is the perfect moment to announce Yunho coming over, “I have someone brining us food.”

 

He hears Kyuhyun pause, and he withdraws his head to be hit with the male’s wary expression.

 

“Who is this ‘someone’?” Kyuhyun asks, and Donghae shuts the door so that he can face him properly.

 

“Just a close friend, he won’t hurt you.” Donghae reassures.

 

Kyuhyun shows him his back as he walks towards his living area and Donghae slumps slightly in relief as the vet’s strong scent leaves him a little.

 

“Question,” Kyuhyun calls out as he walks away, “where are Hae and Siwon?”

 

Donghae slams his head against the fridge, whispering a silent ‘fuck’ as he begins to panic.

 

Kyuhyun pauses and looks at him at the lack of answer.

 

“Where was Siwon last night?” Kyuhyun asks, and Donghae’s shifter – who had been too overly aware of Kyuhyun - goes silent as Donghae’s mind continues to panic further, “I didn’t see him in the car.”

 

“A friend picked him up for me,” Donghae lies. “Picked them both up, actually.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Just to give you space to get comfortable here,” Donghae continues to lie out of his ass.

 

Donghae’s shifter leaves his focus completely at the suspicious glint in Kyuhyun’s eyes, leaving Donghae all alone to deal with this.

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t believe him and Donghae as no idea what he should do or say.

 

Luckily, the buzz of Yunho’s arrival at his front gate calls from the telecom.

 

Donghae rushes to let the male into his property, and as he slips through to the entranceway, he takes deep calming breathes to ease the frantic pounding of his heart.

 

Yunho knocks on his front door and Donghae immediately grabs his friend and drags him inside.

 

“I need help,” Donghae hisses to the male as he shuts the door.

 

Yunho, for a second, looks alarmed, but when Donghae explains, he loses the alarmed look and tries to calm Donghae down.

 

“One step at a time,” Yunho reassures him as Donghae takes the take-out bag from him.

 

Entering the main living area, Donghae watches how Yunho reacts to Kyuhyun.

 

Kyuhyun introduced himself to Yunho while bowing a little, and Donghae notices the sudden tension in the male’s shoulders as he experiences Kyuhyun’s scent.

 

Yunho surprises Donghae when the tension easily leaves the male’s shoulders after a few seconds.

 

“Pleasure to meet you, Kyuhyun,” Yunho says honestly. “I’m Yunho, a close friend of Donghae’s.”

 

Donghae eyes his friend in confusion, wondering why there isn’t more of a reaction from the shifter.

 

“Donghae asked me to bring over some food,” Yunho leads and Donghae remembers the weight of food in the bag he was holding, “shall we eat it before it gets cold? That way we can also get to know each other.”

 

Kyuhyun nods, though his body is slightly tense as he follows after Yunho, leaving Donghae standing there, wondering what the hell was going on.

 

They settle at the table and begin to eat, the conversation slow at first due to Kyuhyun being wary of Yunho, but you can’t be wary or shy around Yunho for long due to his natural ease of relaxing people.

 

As they ate, Kyuhyun and Yunho discussed what they did for a living (with Yunho tweaking the truth a little) and Kyuhyun was immediately interested in Yunho’s work.

 

Donghae’s shifter started to creeper closer as he stabbed his chopsticks into his food.

 

“How is Siwon?” Kyuhyun asks him as he and Yunho pause in their conversation, and Donghae almost inhales his drink at the question. “Do you know if his leg is better?”

 

“You didn’t tell me that Siwon got hurt last night,” Yunho says as worry lights his eyes. “You only told me that he was the one who saw them.”

 

Before Donghae could do damage control and shut the topic down, Kyuhyun spoke.

 

“Who did Siwon see?” Kyuhyun asks in confusion.

 

“No one,” Donghae butts in, but Yunho’s speaks over him.

 

“He saw the people who attacked your sister,” Yunho says in equal confusion, and Donghae hears a ringing noise in his head as Kyuhyun becomes even more confused, and slightly angry.

 

“Wait, you told people about what happened to us?” Kyuhyun snaps at Donghae.

 

“Kyuhyun, I-”

 

Kyuhyun cuts over him, expression turning livid. “Is this how you’re going to ‘protect’ me by blabbing to your mates about _my_ business?”

 

Yunho shoots Donghae an apologetic look as he realises what he’s slipped up on.

 

“It isn’t like that,” Donghae raises his voice to get it into Kyuhyun’s head, and Kyuhyun’s brown eyes harden at the rise in volume.

 

“Do not raise your voice to me,” Kyuhyun spits at Donghae as he rises from his chair, causing the wooden legs to squeak across the floor.

 

Donghae’s shifter reacts a little too much to Kyuhyun’s anger, and Donghae’s metal chopsticks in his hand bend in a perfect curve.

 

Kyuhyun notices it before Donghae can hide it.

 

“Neat trick,” Kyuhyun sarcastically retorts and turns to head to the entranceway, and Yunho rises to push Donghae back in his seat.

 

“Calm down,” Yunho hisses at him but Donghae shoves the male’s hand off him and stalks after Kyuhyun.

 

“Where are you going?” he demands as Kyuhyun slides the door open.

 

“Where I should have gone in the first place,” Kyuhyun snaps at him from over his shoulder.

 

Donghae’s reacting even before he knows what he’s doing.

 

Kyuhyun gasps as Donghae roughly spins the male around, and Yunho’s warning is too dim for him to hear as he holds Kyuhyun from leaving.

 

“You can’t leave,” Donghae tells him, ignoring the growing panicked look on Kyuhyun’s face.

 

“Let me go,” Kyuhyun demands, and looks over Donghae’s shoulder as he senses Yunho approach.

 

“You’re making this whole thing worse by acting like this, Donghae.” Yunho gently speaks to him, but there is underlining tone of warning in it.

 

Donghae clings to the warning and forcibly removes his hands from Kyuhyun’s body.

 

“You can’t leave,” Donghae says again as he breathes through the spikes of anger inside him.

 

Kyuhyun takes in a deep breath, soothing the fear that Donghae can smell from him.

 

“Watch me.” Kyuhyun says after a few seconds of stillness, and Donghae’s teeth lock together as he forces his body not to charge after the human as Kyuhyun slams the front door shut.

 

“Donghae-”

 

“Go after him,” Donghae orders, his pitch low to a rumble as he stares at the door.

 

Yunho sighs from behind him, but does as Donghae asks.

 

As the door shuts a final time, Donghae feels the blood drip from his tightly clenched fists.

 

Looking down at them, Donghae swallows the thick taste on his tongue as he sees his fingers partially changed, his nails elongated into claws that were currently biting into his palms.

 

 

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t know this area at all.

 

He’s left his phone at Donghae’s, as well as his jacket.

 

Shivering from the cold night air, Kyuhyun continues to wander down the street.

 

He knew that once he gets out of this residential area he’ll be able to attempt to find his way back to downtown.

 

“You’re going to freeze if you stay out here any longer,” Yunho’s voice comes from behind him, startling him.

 

Turning, he sees Yunho a little away from him.

 

“Have you followed me the entire way?” Kyuhyun asks incredulously.

 

Yunho nods. “You shouldn’t be wandering around alone in an area you don’t know too well.”

 

“I’m not going back there,” Kyuhyun states, his breathing turning into puffs of white air in front of him, and he wraps his arms tighter around his body in an attempt to fight off the cold.

 

“Donghae has your best intentions at heart,” Yunho reassures him.

 

“But he’s still a stranger,” Kyuhyun argues. “I shouldn’t have followed him home.”

 

“So why did you?”

 

Kyuhyun’s jaw starts to shudder, his teeth clacking slightly before he grits them tightly.

 

He turns his back to Yunho and continues his walk without giving Yunho an answer.

 

He hears Yunho follow him.

 

“Do you feel safe around Donghae?” Yunho calls from behind him, his pace unhurried as he follows Kyuhyun.

 

Kyuhyun scoffs. “I don’t know him well enough to answer that.”

 

“Yet, you still chose to accept his help,” Yunho points out.

 

Kyuhyun stops at seeing a group of men at the end of the street.

 

Their loud obnoxious voices bring forth his fear and Kyuhyun takes a step back.

 

His back hits off Yunho’s warm body, and Kyuhyun gasps at not hearing the male move so close to him.

 

“Donghae can protect you right now,” Yunho tells him softly, and Kyuhyun spins to look at the male who was watching him instead of the group that was steadily getting closer to them.

 

“He has contacts, he can find out who those men were and help the police get you and your sister justice,” Yunho tells him, and Kyuhyun helplessly stares into the male’s honest eyes.

 

“Trust him, Kyuhyun.” Yunho whispers, and brings an arm around his back to lead him back the way they came, away from the group.

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t move at first, his mind working double time to figure what he should do, but eventually he moves forward and huddles against Yunho’s warmth as his teeth begin to chatter properly.

 

“How come you’re not cold?” Kyuhyun questions and almost bites his tongue off due to the chattering.

 

Yunho shrugs. “It takes awhile for me to feel cold.”

 

Kyuhyun nods and they walk in silence back to the street Donghae lived on.

 

As they round the corner to the street, Kyuhyun remembers something from just before the argument.

 

“Siwon was with Donghae?” Kyuhyun lightly questions, “The one who saw the men leave?”

 

“Yes?”

 

Kyuhyun stares up at the house as they began to walk up the steep hill.

 

“Why are all of his dogs named after someone?” Kyuhyun wonders out loud, and he sees Yunho tense slightly from the corner of his eye.

 

“He has a dog named Siwon?” Yunho asks him, and Kyuhyun pauses to stare at him.

 

“Yeah,” he states slowly, confused. “You didn’t know? I thought you two were close.”

 

“We are.”

 

“Clearly,” Kyuhyun sarcastically retorts.

 

Yunho starts to look uncomfortable under his watchful stare.

 

Kyuhyun’s gut instinct starts to prick at him, demanding him to take notice of how dodgy it sounds.

 

Instead of quizzing Yunho further, Kyuhyun starts to jog towards the house, climbing the stone steps two at a time and coming to a halt at seeing Donghae sitting on the top step.

 

“Take me to see your animals,” Kyuhyun demands, no longer feeling the bite of the night air due to the sudden rush of endorphins as his gut continues to prod him further into suspicion.

 

Donghae’s expression doesn’t give anything away. “I can’t do that.”

 

“Why not?” Kyuhyun picks at his answer. “They’re your animals; you can see them whenever you want.”

 

“If you’re worried about their health, I can assure you-” Donghae begins to pacify him and Kyuhyun’s fists clench in anger.

 

“Donghae will bring them home tomorrow,” Yunho cuts in, and Kyuhyun glances over his shoulder to see the male standing two steps behind him.

 

Yunho looks certain and at ease, and when Kyuhyun looks back at Donghae, he catches the look of reluctance crossing the male’s features.

 

“Good.” Kyuhyun grits out as he and Donghae lock eye contact.

 

Kyuhyun was hoping that by seeing how the animals reacted around Donghae, he’ll know for certain if this whole thing was real or a set up, because right now, Kyuhyun was seeing this through suspicious eyes.

 

And his gut instinct was never wrong, and right now it was telling him something wasn’t legit.

 

This whole thing didn’t seem legit; Donghae kindly helping him and being there at the right moment to help him, and Yunho trying to persuade him to stay. It was lacking something, and Kyuhyun was going to get to bottom of what was missing.

 

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

 

 

 

Parked outside the vet practise, Donghae worried his bottom lip with his teeth as he waited for Kyuhyun to finish his shift.

 

For the entire day he’s been in a panic about how he should handle tonight.

 

Siwon was already at his place waiting for them with Yunho, leaving Donghae with the hard task of keeping his shit together while his shifter was pacing his mind, bugging him that this needs to be done.

 

Donghae knew this. Knew why Yunho said so last night, but he was still looking for a way out.

 

By telling Kyuhyun about shifters, he’s cementing the male more into his life, which is something Donghae had tried to put off at the very beginning.

 

Seeing the human leave, Donghae’s grip on the steering wheel tightened, his lungs taking in their last clear lungful of air before Kyuhyun’s scent could cause him to suffer for another night.

 

Kyuhyun yanked the jeep’s door open and huddle in quickly to escape from the cold.

 

As the door slammed shut, Kyuhyun’s scent slammed into him, squeezing his lungs so that he had to inhale his scent.

 

He jerked the car into drive and focused on backing out of the side street.

 

“Eager to get home?” Kyuhyun commented as he quickly fastened the seatbelt over himself.

 

Donghae grunted, not trusting his voice since it felt like his throat was seizing up as he felt his shifter focus all of its attention on Kyuhyun.

 

Donghae shook his head slightly to get rid of the pleased hum it made as it left his focus a little, content knowing that Kyuhyun was well.

 

Donghae’s mood soured at that. During the night, he and his shifter had been at a tug of war with each other again that eventually escalated to Donghae being lectured by his shifter over his care of the human.

 

In order to escape from his shifter, Donghae had spent the night with music blasting in his ears to mask him.

 

Now, as he drove them to his place, his shifter was still focused on Kyuhyun, and Donghae was still acutely aware of the strange effect the male’s scent caused over him and his beast.

 

 “Are the dogs there?” Kyuhyun asks after they’ve been driving for fifteen minutes in silence.

 

Donghae indicates to change lanes on the motorway. “Yes.”

 

He sees Kyuhyun’s form relax a little from the corner of his vision.

 

“Good.”

 

Donghae yanks the jeep into the next lane, not caring about the twin exclaims that come from Kyuhyun and his shifter; Kyuhyun’s being one of surprise, and his shifter’s being a one of anger.

 

“Is Siwon able to walk properly?” Kyuhyun questions after a few more minutes of silence, and Donghae could feel the human looking at him now and again as he remains silent.

 

“You’ll see when we get there,” Donghae answers shortly, and begins to head towards his exit off the highway.

 

“What’s the matter with you tonight?” Kyuhyun demands, his annoyance clear, and it caused Donghae’s shifter to curl tighter around his focus.

 

“Headache.” He grits out as he concentrates on getting his shifter away from his focus, his hands on the steering wheel tightening even more as he accelerates a little bit more.

 

Kyuhyun’s phone goes off before the human can make a comment about his answer, and Donghae tries to block the conversation, but his shifter isn’t having it.

 

It’s the other vet from the clinic, and Donghae pushes down the window on his side so that he can get some clean air as his shifter clings to every word that is being spoken.

 

Driving up the hill, Kyuhyun says his goodbyes as he realised that they were at Donghae’s now. Donghae parked outside the gate to his property and waits until Kyuhyun leaves the jeep first, before releasing his death grip on the steering wheel.

 

He sighs at seeing the indents of his nails in the leather, and forces his stiff body from the jeep.

 

Kyuhyun was waiting at the gate, his eyes carefully watching Donghae as he approached him.

 

“How long have you had the headache?” The vet asks curiously as he unlocks the gate and holds it open for the vet to go past him.

 

_Ever since the moment I met you,_ Donghae thinks as the gate shuts and locks behind him.

 

“It’ll pass,” he says as they climb the steps to his house, and Donghae swallows nervously as he sees Yunho’s profile leaving the kitchen window.

 

He passes Kyuhyun on the steps, not daring to breathe as he passes him, and unlocks the door.

 

He sees Yunho standing in the entranceway and nods in greeting as he waits for Kyuhyun to pass him.

 

“You’re here?” Kyuhyun questions in surprise, pausing in front of Donghae.

 

Donghae grits his teeth and uses the back of his hand to nudge the vet further inside so that he can close the door.

 

His shifter hisses at the touch.

 

Donghae wants to leave.

 

He takes a few deep calming breathes as he faces the door, only barely paying attention to the stilted conversation going on behind him.

 

He hears them leave and convinces his body to take his shoes off and follow suit.

 

Seeing Siwon sitting in the living area, Donghae’s blood pressure continues to rise from the stress.

 

Siwon gives him a worried look and Donghae instantly opens a connection between them.

 

_You don’t look too good,_ Siwon’s voice echoes around his head.

 

Donghae glances to see Kyuhyun watching Siwon as the other male approaches them.

 

“You remember Siwon, right?” Donghae asks tiredly, and Kyuhyun nods slowly.

 

“How is your sister?” Siwon asks politely, and Donghae knows it’s only to make Kyuhyun feel less tense because he has asked the shifter to keep an eye on the unconscious female.

 

Kyuhyun sighs, his shoulders drooping slightly. “No change.”

 

Donghae’s shifter urges for Donghae to ease the human.

 

He clenches his fists into his jacket pockets and looks for an opening to start explaining to Kyuhyun.

 

Kyuhyun gives him it.

 

“Where are the dogs?” He asks curiously as he looks around the space.

 

Yunho shifts near to Donghae and Siwon glances at him.

 

Feeling the pressure of the burden on his shoulders, Donghae follows Kyuhyun as the human moves around his home for signs of his ‘pets’.

 

“I thought you said they’ll be here?” Kyuhyun snaps at him, and Donghae pauses slightly at seeing the concern in the male’s eyes.

 

Kyuhyun really does care for animals’ welfare.

 

“They are here,” Donghae tells him slowly, not having a clue what he was saying or the direction he was going to take it in.

 

Kyuhyun gives him a look that shows he doubts Donghae.

 

“Then where are they?” Kyuhyun asks and looks down at the garden from the glass wall.

 

“Siwon, come here.” Donghae calls softly and watches Kyuhyun’s reflection as he looks up from the garden to watch behind him.

 

“I’m sure he means his dog, not you.” Kyuhyun says with a frown as Siwon comes to stand beside Donghae.

 

_Here we go._

 

 

 

“I meant him,” Donghae corrects, and Kyuhyun turns to give him an annoyed stare.

 

“Is this a joke?” Kyuhyun asks stiffly.

 

Kyuhyun watches them, and that gut feeling from last night comes back again at reading the atmosphere.

 

Donghae looks pained, as if he wants nothing more but to leave, and Siwon looks hesitant, eyeing Donghae.

 

Yunho was slightly off to the side, a clinical look to him as he waits for Donghae to answer Kyuhyun.

 

The longer the silence stretches the more edgy and tense Kyuhyun becomes.

 

Finally, Donghae answers him.

 

“Bring the dog from my room,” Donghae says to Siwon, and without saying anything but continuing to give Donghae a more worried look now, Siwon heads towards the stairs and leaves Kyuhyun’s sight.

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t relax. Not yet. His gut is still twisting, a cold sensation spreading through him as he continues to watch the other two males.

 

Donghae turns and heads for the table and drags a chair loudly from it and slumps down on it.

 

Yunho doesn’t move, but he remains watching Donghae, and Kyuhyun begins to wonder why everyone is so worried about him for.

 

Kyuhyun hears the clicking of nails on the floor upstairs, and his heart immediately clenches as he waits with bated breath to how the dog will act.

 

The brown Labrador carefully comes down the stairs, its movements unfamiliar almost, and Kyuhyun frowns slightly as he watches the animal, eyes concentrated on the area he had hurt a few days ago.

 

Waiting until the dog was off the stairs and slowly making its way over to them, Kyuhyun cleared the familiar lump of denial in his throat.

 

“His leg is better.” He states, and the dog pauses near where Donghae was sitting.

 

Donghae glances down at the animal and nods.

 

Kyuhyun tastes something bitter on his tongue as his anger begins to simmer.

 

“Donghae...” Yunho says his name slowly, and Kyuhyun watches as the dog uncertainly sits down near Yunho.

 

Kyuhyun’s head begins to ring with alarm bells as Yunho murmurs something to the dog that he fails to catch.

 

Why hasn’t Siwon came down yet?

 

Why is the animal acting like this is not its home?

 

Where was the other one?

 

Before he knows what he’s doing, Kyuhyun’s hurrying for the stairs, the dog’s bark of surprise covering Yunho’s shout of his and Donghae’s name.

 

The room to the spare room is shut, but the door to Donghae’s is pushed open a little.

 

Enough to allow a dog to slip through.

 

Kyuhyun shoves the door open and begins to look around for the golden retriever.

 

He pauses at the pile of clothes on the floor near the bed.

 

“He’s not hiding in here,” Donghae calmly says from behind him and Kyuhyun spins to face the male.

 

“Who?” Kyuhyun hisses. “Siwon or Hae?”

 

“Both.”

 

Kyuhyun feels like he’s close to hitting something.

 

And Donghae’s blank expression looks very tempting at the moment.

 

“Where are they?” Kyuhyun demands.

 

“You’re not dumb, Kyuhyun.” Donghae answers instead. “You know who those clothes are on the floor.”

 

Kyuhyun’s anger is cut off at the answer and he scrambles for balance as he looks back at the clothes that Siwon was wearing earlier.

 

Considering he couldn’t hear or see any sign of the male, Kyuhyun’s stomach uncomfortably dropped as he looked back at Donghae.

 

“I-I don’t get it,” Kyuhyun shakily says.

 

“They are Siwon’s clothes, and Siwon is downstairs,” Donghae bluntly states and crosses his arms. “Siwon is the dog.”

 

Kyuhyun wonders if he heard that right over the ringing in his head.

 

As he continues to stare at Donghae, without any sign of the other two joining them, Kyuhyun scrambles for clarity.

 

“You’re saying Siwon turned himself into a dog?” Kyuhyun questions, mouth slightly numb.

 

“Yes.”

 

Kyuhyun continues to stare.

 

Donghae’s posture is tense, and the more Kyuhyun stares at him, the longer his mind is demanding for him to say the words on his tongue.

 

“So are you Hae?” Kyuhyun asks finally, conflicted to how he should be feeling right now.

 

Should he believe this? Should he even be standing here discussing this madness?

 

“Yes.”

 

He needs proof.

 

“Show me.”

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

 

 

 

“Kyuhyun?”

 

Kyuhyun ignores the concerned voice.

 

He continues to hide his head in his hands, clutching tightly at his hair as his mind continues to replay what had happened in Donghae’s bedroom.

 

He feels someone come sit beside him on the sofa.

 

“Kyuhyun?” the voice calls again, this time much firmer.

 

Kyuhyun clenches his eyes shut harder, seeing lights pulse from behind his eyelids.

 

Even that’s not enough to get his mind to stop showing him the memory of the golden retriever appearing before his eyes.

 

Seeing Donghae calmly shuffle back into the shadows of his bedroom, undressing and placing the clothes on the floor in the light coming from the open doorway behind him, and then a few seconds later, seeing a dog come forth from that spot.

 

Seeing those brown eyes that Kyuhyun has come to recognise as Donghae’s staring up at him as he stares at him in shock.

 

A hand touches his shoulder and Kyuhyun jerks away from it.

 

“Answer me,” Yunho demands as he tries to get Kyuhyun to respond to him.

 

“Are they still dogs?” he asks from behind his hands.

 

“No.”

 

Kyuhyun drops his hands to see Donghae dressed and standing away from him, watching him.

 

“So,” Kyuhyun begins as he clasps his hands together tightly. “What do I call you?”

 

Donghae holds his gaze the moment Kyuhyun makes eye contact with him.

 

“Shifter,” he answers, and Kyuhyun nods slowly, hands beginning to hurt from his painful grip.

 

“And you change into any animal?” Kyuhyun continues to question as he battles the hysteria further back.

 

“I’m a canine shifter.”

 

Kyuhyun nods like he understands when in fact he is actually debating whether or not he’s been drugged and this is all a hallucination.

 

“Siwon and Yunho are as well,” Donghae continues, and it throws Kyuhyun off guard at the mention of the male sitting beside him.

 

Kyuhyun needs space.

 

He begins to pace the window wall, looking out at the garden below.

 

“So when are you going to get to the point of explaining why you guys are in my life?” Kyuhyun throws out as he wraps his arms around himself to prevent himself from lashing out.

 

“You know how I got into your life,” Donghae reminds him, and Kyuhyun whirls on him.

 

“Then why did you come back?” He demands viciously and has to take a deep breath when he hears how close he is to snapping, or worse, breaking down.

 

Donghae straightens, his arms tightening from where he had them crossed in front of his chest, and Kyuhyun’s unbalanced emotions scatter further at seeing the male’s tight expression.

 

“You need to calm down,” Donghae orders him, voice tight and small with control and something else as he stares at Kyuhyun.

 

Kyuhyun’s stomach drops slightly, heart rate picking up.

 

“How the fuck am I meant to calm down when you drop this at my feet?!” Kyuhyun hisses, ignoring his gut instinct to be careful.

 

Yunho shoots up the exact moment Donghae moves forward, hissing something Kyuhyun fails to catch as Donghae continues to watch Kyuhyun.

 

“If you want to lash out, then do so!” Donghae shouts at him as he dodges around Yunho to continue coming at Kyuhyun.

 

Kyuhyun panics and backs up into the glass as Siwon comes to grab at Donghae.

 

“Donghae-”

 

“Just don’t stand there and try to deny what you saw,” Donghae finishes as he jerks from out of Siwon’s hands.

 

Kyuhyun swallows at the intense look coming from Donghae as he breathes heavy to control his sudden burst of anger.

 

“I wasn’t going to deny it,” Kyuhyun lies and Donghae reacts by snarling at it, scaring him and causing Siwon and Yunho to crowd around him.

 

“Shifters can sense and smell emotions, so don’t bother trying to hide.” Donghae informs him as he pushes away from them.

 

Kyuhyun stills at that.

 

“I’ll be back in the morning,” Donghae growls under his breath as he stalks from the room and yanks open the sliding door to the entrance way.

 

All three flinch at the sound of it and the front door slamming shut.

 

 

 

It doesn’t feel right being in the house without its owner.

 

Kyuhyun sighs and leans his head against the cold glass.

 

He’s currently sitting on his bedroom’s floor by the window wall, looking out at the night sky.

 

After Donghae had left, Siwon and Yunho took turns in explaining why and how Kyuhyun got here, that Donghae needed to make sure Kyuhyun didn’t get too suspicious about his healing and needed to bring in someone else to get their verdict on Kyuhyun, and how they followed him home that day because they picked up on his fear of returning him alone.

 

Siwon then told him that one of the men who attacked his sister was a shifter, and that was the main reason why Donghae wanted to keep him and his sister safe.

 

Apparently, shifters aren’t meant to attack humans, so they needed to find out why this one attacked his sister.

 

Kyuhyun didn’t tell them what had happened to him fully, choosing to just sit in silence as Yunho took over to explain what shifters do and how they behave.

 

Kyuhyun was told that Donghae was a different type of shifter than Siwon and Yunho, and many others in fact.

 

Yunho was vague on the details, but he stressed the importance of Kyuhyun avoiding angering Donghae or challenging him since canine shifters are less tolerable of things like that.

 

Kyuhyun wanted to leave at hearing that, but both opposed it.

 

They were certain that Donghae wouldn’t harm him, despite what Kyuhyun had seen in the living room.

 

When he questioned why they believed that, Yunho answered with, “Donghae reacts differently to you than we do, which he can explain properly when he comes back, but his shifter won’t allow him to hurt you.”

 

More riddles for Kyuhyun to stew over.

 

Siwon knocked on the door before entering.

 

“You should sleep,” he tells him softly from the door.

 

“Kinda hard when you’ve just had a new world demonstrated in front of your eyes,” Kyuhyun mumbles back as he continues to watch the sky.

 

“Yunho left sleeping tablets if you want to take them?”

 

Kyuhyun shakes his head.

 

“I would tell you more,” Siwon sighs. “But-”

 

“You can’t because of Donghae.” Kyuhyun finishes.

 

“He has a certain influence amongst canine shifters around him,” Siwon explains, despite the fact he and Yunho have already told him the reason why.

 

Kyuhyun’s beginning to think that the roles of authority are very similar to what you read in the werewolf genre.

 

Donghae seemed to be in a higher position than both Siwon and Yunho, meaning they’re only allowed to disclose certain areas with non shifters.

 

Something about law was thrown in there too, but Kyuhyun wasn’t really paying any attention any more.

 

His head just hurt from it all.

 

“Are you sure my sister is safe?” Kyuhyun asks as he sees Siwon leave.

 

He pauses and nods at him. “Donghae’s already got people looking after her.”

 

“You mean shifters?”

 

“And humans too.”

 

Kyuhyun lets Siwon leave.

 

He wants to know why he’s been targeted.

 

There has to be a reason why.

 

Kyuhyun thinks back to that night.

 

_‘You caught our attention on the bus.’_

“But how?” Kyuhyun whispers to himself. “What did I do? I was just sitting minding my own business.”

 

_‘Not often we find attractive ones like you.’_

 

Kyuhyun stills. The bloke was saying something before that, but Kyuhyun was too busy preoccupied with escaping that he had failed to catch it.

 

Was it merely just appearance that has brought Kyuhyun into this? Was it purely because of being creeped on and being assaulted for it?

 

Or was he missing something.

 

The only person who could give him answers was outside somewhere, avoiding Kyuhyun.

 

 

 

Donghae wasn’t there in the morning, so Siwon took Kyuhyun to work.

 

Kyuhyun was exhausted from having very little sleep. Luckily, his shift wasn’t too busy or extreme. He only performed one surgery and it was simple enough to do.

 

By the time his shift came to an end at 7pm, he didn’t know who would be outside waiting for him.

 

So when he spied Donghae in his jeep, Kyuhyun was immediately nervous.

 

Hand on the jeep’s door handle, Kyuhyun took a calming breath, the cold night air helping in chasing away the nerves, before getting inside.

 

Donghae didn’t speak until they were on the highway.

 

“They told me that they’ve given you a brief understanding of whom and what shifters are?” Donghae asks, startling Kyuhyun from his thoughts.

 

Kyuhyun nods.

 

Donghae flicks his indicator. “So why aren’t you hammering me with questions?”

 

Kyuhyun frowns at the comment as he watches the cars speed past them.

 

“Gee, I don’t know,” Kyuhyun sarcastically begins as he glances over at the male, “here I thought this suffocating silence meant ‘leave me alone’ and not ‘bug me with questions’.”

 

Donghae’s body shifts slightly, his hands on the steering wheel gripping it tighter.

 

“Yunho also told you to be careful, didn’t he?”

 

“If you’re going to be insensitive then I have every right to act like a jerk as well,” Kyuhyun says as he snaps his gaze from the infuriating male to watch outside his window.

 

Silence ticks between them for a few seconds.

 

Kyuhyun can feel Donghae looking at him.

 

“Are you hungry?”

 

Kyuhyun refuses to look at him as he shrugs.

 

The jeep changes lanes and they go driving past their usual exit.

 

Panic floods through Kyuhyun.

 

“Relax,” Donghae says as he rounds on the shifter. “We’re eating out tonight.”

 

“So you weren’t lying when you said shifters can sense emotions?” Kyuhyun grits out as he wills his body to relax again.

 

“Your anxiety is currently making it hard for me to focus at the moment,” Donghae comments, and Kyuhyun eyes his tight grip on the steering wheel again.

 

“Why?”

 

Donghae doesn’t answer him, staring ahead as the jeeps speeds up.

 

“You said to ask you questions, yet you’re ignoring them?”

 

“It’s hard to explain,” Donghae says through clenched teeth.

 

Kyuhyun feels no sympathy and stares hard at the male. “I’m sure I can handle it.”

 

Kyuhyun makes a surprised sound as he’s jolted into the passenger door, his seatbelt digging into his neck as Donghae yanks the jeep over to the side and slams his hazard lights on as they jerk to a stop.

 

Kyuhyun winces at the horns blaring as they go past.

 

“Your scent attracts a shifter when it’s not meant to.” Donghae hastily begins to explain as he glances at his window mirror to make sure they’re safe for now.

 

Kyuhyun stares, mouth parting to demand him to elaborate.

 

“Humans should never be able to draw a shifter’s attention, and that fact that you’re able to draw, not just mine but others, is something that needs to be investigated,” Donghae continues at a break neck speed.

 

Kyuhyun swallows, hating the taste of fear on his tongue as he gets his answer to why that guy attacked him and his sister.

 

All because of the way he smells.

 

Kyuhyun could feel the hysteria try to return.

 

“H-how do I stop it?” he asks, voice small in the huge vehicle.

 

Donghae lets out a sigh that causes his whole body to sag.

 

“You can’t,” Donghae tells him softly, and for the first time all night, they make eye contact with each other.

 

The male looks like how Kyuhyun feels; exhausted.

 

“Where did you go last night?” Kyuhyun asks curiously as he tracks the lines of exhaustion around the male’s eyes.

 

“Friend’s place.”

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t need a shifter’s ability to sense when he’s being lied to.

 

Kyuhyun allows it to drop for now as Donghae looks away from him.

 

“What’s the plan then?” he asks as Donghae turns the hazard lights off and flip his indicator as he waits for a gap to get back into the lane of traffic.

 

“Food,” Donghae mumbles as he tracks the cars speeding past.

 

Kyuhyun rolls his eyes, feeling less tense than before now that he’s seen how this whole thing has played on Donghae.

 

Both are stuck with each other, and while Kyuhyun still has questions, he’s starting to understand how tough this has been and will be on the male.

 

He’s probably lived his whole life trying to avoid having his...ability...be known by humans, and now that he’s had to look out for Kyuhyun and induct him into this new world, it can’t be easy for him.

 

That’s why Kyuhyun decides to keep quiet.

 

He can always get answers later or as they go along.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let you all know, this will be the last update for a few weeks.


	12. Chapter 12

 

 

 

Kyuhyun’s thumb stroked the back of his sister’s hand as he watched her sleeping face.

 

There was still no sign of her regaining consciousness yet.

 

The doctors were still reassuring him that it’s not unusual for a patient to remain unconscious longer if they’ve had a head trauma, but it didn’t sit well with him.

 

He just want her awake and well, and for them to go home.

 

Life at Donghae’s was...uncomfortable.

 

It’s been two days since he found out about shifters, and ever since then, it just feels like Donghae is a live wire around Kyuhyun.

 

If Kyuhyun so much as breathes too loud, he gets snapped at as the male storms from the room.

 

It was starting to become exhausting living with someone who you don’t even know.

 

“I’m going back home today,” he tells Ara as he watches her. “Nothing else has happened, and no sign of those bastards have returned, so I’m going to try being there for one night.”

 

Donghae, of course, doesn’t know this.

 

Kyuhyun was thankful for the work the male is doing; trying to find leads to the shifter who attacked them as well as make sure the police don’t slack in their investigation, but if Kyuhyun had to spend another night feeling like an unwanted pest; he’d go mental.

 

When Donghae dropped him off at the vet practise this morning, Kyuhyun had expected the usual routine of Donghae reminding him to text him if he gets out early with Kyuhyun replying back in a monotone that he knows and that Donghae needs to stop saying it every morning, but this morning, Donghae didn’t remind him.

 

He was busy arguing with someone through the hands-free call.

 

So while Donghae had been occupied arguing with what sounded to be a supplier, Kyuhyun went to work.

 

But he doesn’t have work today.

 

He had waited till Donghae left before leaving himself and spent the day running some errands, the main one being to make sure their mother’s shop was being minded correctly with the hired help Kyuhyun had found, before coming to visit his sister.

 

It was already dark due to the early nights, but Kyuhyun didn’t want to tempt fate by returning back home too late.

 

Saying goodbye to his unconscious sister, Kyuhyun left the ward.

 

 

 

Pottering around his home, Kyuhyun began to relax.

 

Nothing had happened to him upon arriving, and he’s been here for an hour now and no-one as attempted to break his front door down.

 

Everything was fine.

 

Kyuhyun began to hum to himself as he did a quick clean of the place, getting rid of the evidence from that night and also from having no-one be here. His parents were due back soon.

 

He was tidying the living room when his phone vibrated in his pocket with a message.

 

Stomach sinking slightly, he had a very good guess on who it was that texted him.

 

Seeing the name of the sender confirmed his guess.

 

 

_Are you still working? Your shift finished fifteen minutes ago._

Kyuhyun hasn’t really planned on what he was going to say to Donghae.

 

If he leaves him hanging, the male is only going to go into the vet practise and see he isn’t there, but if he tells him, he’ll probably come and get Kyuhyun.

 

So he decides to lie.

 

 

 

_He hasn’t been this late before,_ his shifter murmurs to him as Donghae watches the doors to the vet practise.

 

He doesn’t respond, but his breathing picks up as he begins to feel a little bit worried.

 

He glances down at his phone to see if he had somehow missed getting a reply back from Kyuhyun and saw nothing from him.

 

“He might be operating,” he says as he goes back to watching the doors.

 

_Or someone has nabbed him._

Donghae’s foot accidently revs the engine at his shifter’s comment.

 

His phone rings with a message, saving Donghae from having to tell his shifter to shut up.

 

He can’t quite believe what he reads.

 

 

_Spending the night at a friend’s place._

_They’ll take me to work in the morning._

 

 

Donghae’s ears begin to hear white noise.

 

His shifter kicks starts his anxiety and immediately starts to rattle his mind about Kyuhyun’s safety.

 

Donghae throws the phone to the passenger seat and turns the ignition off to prevent himself from acting stupidly.

 

Like going to look for Kyuhyun.

 

He takes a few deep breaths as he fights with his shifter to get further back into his head so that he isn’t just hearing him rage and snarl at Donghae to do something.

 

“A night away from Kyuhyun isn’t going to kill you,” he snarls, fed up with feeling like this now.

 

The past two days have been hell for Donghae. He has never been this close to the edge before without breaking out into his other form, and because of that, he’s become paranoid and even more tetchy as he tries his hardest not to give in to his shifter’s influence.

 

He’s been horrible to Kyuhyun, and he knows this because every time he and Kyuhyun are in the same room, the poor vet is flooded with apprehension, tip-toeing around Donghae.

 

He could smell his fear, and that did nothing but send Donghae further down the spiral of madness.

 

Kyuhyun’s presence, his scent, was getting too much for him now.

 

He was starting to lose his sanity.

 

He hasn’t slept in his house since the night Kyuhyun came home with him. He’s been crashing halfway through the day in his office, which is the only place he and his shifter aren’t constantly fighting with each other.

 

Donghae had even began to plan escaping to his second home out in the countryside for the coming weekend because he felt too highly strung, and he was terrified in case he snapped and lost control near Kyuhyun.

 

He’s just learnt about another world; Donghae doesn’t want to add the complicated layers to it just yet.

 

_Aren’t you forgetting the reason why Kyuhyun is with us?_ His shifter butts into his thoughts after a minute’s peace.

 

“Neither of them has returned back to his home,” Donghae mumbles as he rests his aching head against the steering wheel.

 

_So if that’s the case, why not just let him go?_

 

Donghae grimaced as his stomach rolled, his headache growing. The stress is starting to make him ill.

 

_If you really think he’s safe, then send him home for good._

“You know that isn’t an option now,” he growls. “Now that he knows, he’s stuck with me in his life.”

 

His shifter practically purrs at that, causing Donghae’s headache to pound in his temples.

 

Needing to focus on anything but his frustrating shifter, Donghae punches the steering wheel and groans in pain.

 

Using the moment of pained relief, Donghae starts the jeeps and begins to head home.

 

When the pain begins to subside, Donghae punches the seat beside him, controlling the vehicle easily with one hand as he uses the pain to escape.

 

His shifter is either being willing and keeping quiet or the pain actually works on shutting him out.

 

Donghae knows it’s the first one.

 

He punches harder, hissing at the burn to his knuckles.

 

Coming to a stop at a set of traffic lights, Donghae eyes the red knuckles as he waits.

 

His shifter is still quiet.

 

“If only you were like this around Kyuhyun.” He sighs to himself as he starts to drive again.

 

He blinks in confusion at the area he’s in.

 

He feels his shifter retreat quickly the moment Donghae realises where he’s at, feeling the slip of him moving from his muscles.

 

“You _fucker_ ,” he hisses under his breath as anger drums through his veins.

 

_I haven’t done anything._

“Bull fucking shit!” Donghae yells as he tries to weave his jeep into a new lane so that he can miss the entrance to the upcoming neighbourhood.

 

His shifter comes roaring back as he jerks his jeep behind a smaller car, and he has to lock his grip on the wheel as he fights with his shifter to not take control of him again.

 

_You know that’s where he’ll be!_ It screams at him and Donghae winces at the blare of a horn as the jeep jerks.

 

Donghae needs to get a grip before his shifter can kill them.

 

Concentrating hard on driving the jeep and keeping his shifter away from getting complete control over him, Donghae searches his jacket pockets for the pill bottle Yunho gave him.

 

But he can’t find it.

 

Donghae panics as he feels his shifter’s influence slip through his muscles, a tightness that wasn’t there before joining it.

 

Donghae’s yanked from control over his body and shoved behind his shifter as it eagerly takes control.

 

Donghae rams against the barrier to get back into control, to get his muscles to respond to him as he helplessly watches his shifter dangerously weave through the lanes of traffic to get to the neighbourhood’s entrance on time.

 

Donghae’s furious by the time they park at the bottom of the hill of the street Kyuhyun’s house resides on.

 

His shifter ignores him screaming at him, demanding for him to let Donghae go before anything can happen to them.

 

His shifter locks the doors and turns the engine off before slipping free, allowing Donghae to regain control.

 

Instead of immediately leaving though, Donghae sags against his seat, panting for air as his chest grows painfully tight while his body fights off the after-effects of having his shifter control him.

 

His fury dies just as Donghae’s head smacks off the window as he slumps unconscious in his seat.

 

 

 

Coming out of the convenience shop with a bag full of his dinner, Kyuhyun glances up and down the street to make sure nothing is out of character or nobody is lurking about.

 

His eyes immediately lock on the black, familiar looking jeep.

 

“No it’s not,” he says to himself as he walks down towards it.

 

The street light shows him that it is in fact Donghae’s jeep with the shadow of the male sitting inside it.

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t know if he should feel angry for the male following him, or frustrated that his lie didn’t work.

 

“Yah!” He bangs on the passenger window. “Are you going to sit there all night?!”

 

No answer from within. Kyuhyun squints through the tinted glass to see that Donghae’s not looking at him, but out of his window.

 

Sighing at the male’s immatureness, he goes round the back of the jeep to get to the driver’s side.

 

He raps the back of his knuckles against the glass. “I know it’s you, Donghae. Open up.”

 

Still nothing.

 

Kyuhyun drops his bag of food and uses his hands as a block so that he can squint through the glass better.

 

Alarm floors him at seeing the blood on Donghae’s face.

 

Racing around the front so that he can see inside, he begins to panic at seeing that Donghae was slumped unconscious.

 

He tries the doors to find that they’re all locked, which causes Kyuhyun to slightly make screaming sound in frustration while his heart races from urgency to help him as he jogs around it to look for an open window or something.

 

He spies a big enough stone though.

 

“Fuck it,” he hisses as he grabs it and takes a few steps back before throwing it into the back passenger window.

 

The black glass shatters and Kyuhyun’s immediately yanking his jacket off to brush away the sharp edges so that he can unlock it from inside.

 

But, there’s no little lock thingy for him to pull up, and so Kyuhyun has to heave himself through it, trying to be careful as he can to avoid cutting himself as he slithers onto the back seat.

 

He still ends up cutting his palm as he hurries to slip into the front.

 

“Donghae?” he calls urgently as he releases the seatbelt.

 

Donghae doesn’t even respond to his call and Kyuhyun leans over him to turn the ignition on, releasing the doors locks.

 

Hurrying out of the jeep and around to Donghae’s side again, Kyuhyun opens the door slowly so that Donghae’s body doesn’t fall out.

 

He holds him up as he turns the ignition off and takes the car keys, and then Kyuhyun carefully manoeuvres so that Donghae falls onto his back, and heaves the rest of his body onto him before shoving the door shut.

 

He goes to lock it, but then decides to pocket the keys instead.

 

“What’s the point in locking it with the window out?” he puffs to himself as he begins to hurry as best as he could up the hill to his house.

 

All the while he can feel Donghae’s blood begin to drip down the side of his neck.

 

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

 

 

 

Donghae woke up to Kyuhyun’s overwhelming scent surrounding him and begins to panic, fighting with the thing covering him, before clarity comes swooping in to help him out.

 

The first thing he sees is a familiar back facing him as the person sits on the floor, watching the quiet TV.

 

He’s in Kyuhyun’s living room, lying on the sofa with a fleece throw covering him.

 

Explained why it felt like he was being smothered by Kyuhyun’s scent.

 

Donghae sagged back into the cushions as his head began to pound.

 

“Donghae?” Kyuhyun’s voice calls softly, and Donghae peeks open an eye to see that it was Kyuhyun who he had seen sitting on the floor.

 

Kyuhyun looks tired and concerned in the soft lighting as he comes to kneel beside him.

 

“How did I get here?” he asks as he watches Kyuhyun reach up to him to take the blanket off him, trying to recall anything over the pain of the headache.

 

Kyuhyun frowns at him as he folds it. “You don’t remember?”

 

Donghae shakes his head slightly as he forces his body to sit up properly, groaning from how much effort it was taking to move his heavy limbs.

 

Kyuhyun helps him sit up and Donghae has no choice but to breathe in the rich and slightly sweet scent of him.

 

“Do you want a painkiller?” Kyuhyun asks, unsure, as he hovers over Donghae.

 

Donghae nods. “It’ll help take the edge off for a few hours.”

 

As Kyuhyun leaves him to get it, Donghae’s minds beings to clear further as he concentrates on his surroundings.

 

Donghae spies his car keys on the mantelpiece, and just like that, a little switch clicks in his head.

 

_I did what was right;_ his shifter defends from far back in his mind as the memory of what happened in the jeep floors him.

 

“You forced control over me.” Donghae grits out as he holds his head, breathing through the pain.

 

_You were ignoring your duty-_

“You could have killed us!” Donghae yells out. His fury from then returning as he begins to shake from it.

 

His nose stings at the smell of Kyuhyun’s fear and uncertainty coming from behind him, causing him to groan in misery as he shoves himself off the sofa.

 

And falls straight to the floor.

 

“I’m fine!” he snaps as Kyuhyun races to help him up.

 

“You were unconscious and bleeding when I found you; so no, you’re not okay.” Kyuhyun rebukes him as he heaves Donghae back onto the sofa.

 

“I didn’t mean to come here,” he tells Kyuhyun honestly, grabbing his wrist so that the vet could see that he meant it.

 

Kyuhyun’s fear spikes a little at the touch, causing his shifter to creep forward with a whine of complaint.

 

“Get back,” he grits out as he throws up every mental barrier he was taught to do so.

 

It costs him to do that though, the pain in his head magnifying as he restrains his shifter’s presence from his mind.

 

Kyuhyun yanks in his hold and Donghae does the unthinkable and pulls him close, using him as a crutch as the pain causes him to hiss and moan.

 

“Not you.” He grits out as Kyuhyun’s anxiety grows. “Talking to him.”

 

“Him?” Kyuhyun questions shakily as he tenses in Donghae’s hold.

 

Donghae sighs as his head drops onto the male’s shoulder.

 

“My shifter,” he explains as his eyes slip shut, breathing in the scent and frowning at the faint smell of his blood on Kyuhyun.

 

But before he can question why, he feels something run from his nose and jerks away in alarm.

 

“You’re bleeding again.” Kyuhyun hurries away, breaking his now weak grip as Donghae sags back against the sofa.

 

“Nothin’ to worry about,” he mumbles out as Kyuhyun presses a wad of tissues to his nose.

 

Just another side effect of his shifter’s stupidity.

 

He feels his shifter recede and he drops the barriers, a wave of relief flooding Donghae as he drops it.

 

It’s not just painful for him to put it up, but it’s also painful for his shifter as well. It’s why he doesn’t use that method of control, and it requires too much energy to keep it up.

 

His shifter apologies softly, and it’s the first time it has ever done so since it started to drive Donghae insane.

 

“Want to explain why I found you unconscious in your jeep?” Kyuhyun asks lightly as he manages Donghae’s nosebleed.

 

Donghae eyes the area on Kyuhyun’s neck where he had smelt traces of his blood.

 

“Did you piggyback me?” he asks, and when Kyuhyun’s cheeks slightly turn pink as he nods slightly, Donghae stares at him.

 

He just...stares.

 

“What?” Kyuhyun snaps a little as he begins to fidget under Donghae’s stare.

 

Donghae thinks it’s best to keep to himself what he’s truly thinking, and his shifter snorts as he tries to not think about the way his body feels a tad warmer from the emotion building within his chest.

 

“My shifter briefly took control over my body so that it could get us here,” Donghae says instead of answering Kyuhyun’s question.

 

Kyuhyun looks at him warily, his hand moving the tissue away. “It can do that?”

 

“I haven’t been feeling too well lately, so it was my own fault that I allowed it to happen.” Donghae reassures, and Kyuhyun gently dabs at his nose to make sure the bleeding has stopped.

 

“I kinda noticed,” Kyuhyun mumbles, not meeting Donghae’s eyes as he pulls away.

 

Donghae grabs his wrist again, this time more carefully so that he doesn’t spook Kyuhyun.

 

“I’m not like that all the time.” he apologies as Kyuhyun glances at him. “I’m just not used to having my shifter behave like this.”

 

“Because of the way I smell?” Kyuhyun clarifies.

 

Donghae nods. “It’s not often we encounter someone like you, so it makes a shifter’s instinct want to protect it because of its rarity.”

 

“....right.”

 

Donghae lets him go as he continues. “It was strange that your sister didn’t cause me or Siwon to react like we did to you, but since you’re not full siblings, then it sort of makes sense.”

 

Kyuhyun freezes on his way to leaving.

 

“What did you say about my sister?” the vet demands as he turns around slowly.

 

Donghae chooses his words carefully at seeing Kyuhyun’s expression.

 

“Her scent doesn’t attract a shifter’s attention. It’s just yours.”

 

“Not that part.” Kyuhyun hisses.

 

Donghae’s gut sinks as he realises he’s made a huge mistake.

 

“Y-you didn’t know that you’re not full siblings?” he asks weakly, dreading the answer.

 

Kyuhyun’s face pales and that’s all Donghae needs to know.

 

“C-can you smell it?” Kyuhyun asks as he turns his back to Donghae, but Donghae saw the pain in his eyes.

 

Donghae hates that Kyuhyun’s learning this from him instead of his parents.

 

“Yeah,” he admits softly.

 

Kyuhyun nods.

 

Donghae sighs quietly under his breath as Kyuhyun hurries to leave the room, the smell of his anguish crippling Donghae.

 

“I’m sorry,” he says to the empty room, trying hard not to listen to the choked sobs coming from the next room.

 

 

 

_“Hello?”_

 

Kyuhyun breathes in the cold night air, dreading the conversation he’s about to create.

 

“Is Ara my full sister?” he asks his father as he stares down at the ground.

 

Silence comes through the phone.

 

Kyuhyun bites his lip to stop from crying again.

 

_“You have different mothers.”_

 

Kyuhyun covers his eyes with his hand, breathing hard at the news.

 

“You cheated.” He states as calmly as he can.

 

_“And I regret it, son.”_   His father sighs softly. _“But I don’t regret having you in my life.”_

 

Kyuhyun smacks his head back off the front door as his hand falls away so he can stare up at the night sky.

 

“What happened to my mother?”

 

His father pauses, and Kyuhyun tenses because of it.

 

“...is she dead?” he whispers, not being able to even speak louder than that.

 

_“I don’t know,”_ his father admits. _“She left you with me at the hospital once she was able to be discharged.”_

 

 

_“Son?”_

 

Kyuhyun feels himself starting to cry again.

 

_“When we come back, I promise to answer what I can,”_ his father promises, desperate as Kyuhyun remains silent.

 

Kyuhyun hangs up before his father can hear him cry.

 

 

 

For once, Donghae and his shifter were on the same brainwave.

 

They were both worried about Kyuhyun.

 

He had gone outside, twenty minutes ago, to make a phone call and he was still out there.

 

Donghae had recovered some of his energy, so decided to go see how Kyuhyun was doing.

 

Seeing him sit on the steps to his home with his arms wrapped around his knees just caused Donghae to slump further.

 

This was all because of his big mouth.

 

Kyuhyun glanced behind him at hearing Donghae approach him.

 

“You should be resting,” the vet chastises him, turning to look back out at the street.

 

Donghae takes his time to sit down next to him, making sure that it was okay for him to join Kyuhyun.

 

Kyuhyun didn’t react to his company, so he took it as a good sign.

 

They sat in silence.

 

Donghae kept a steady eye on the little shivers Kyuhyun would make as the male lost himself to his thoughts.

 

He still had his jacket on, so he shrugged it off as Kyuhyun began to speak.

 

“My father cheated,” he reveals quietly.

 

Donghae holds onto his jacket as he allows Kyuhyun to let it out.

 

“Mother dumped me at the hospital with him.”

 

Donghae swallows, throat feeling tight at seeing a tear trail down Kyuhyun’s cheek.

 

“I don’t even know why I’m so upset,” he laughs dryly.

 

Donghae shifts closer to drape his jacket over Kyuhyun’s shoulders.

 

Kyuhyun jolts at the touch, staring at him in surprise.

 

“You don’t always have to be strong and guarded,” Donghae says softly as he wipes away the tear. “It’s okay to react and let it out.”

 

“You should listen to your own advice,” Kyuhyun jokes weakly.

 

“I should,” he nods, smiling a little as Kyuhyun brings his jacket closer to him as he shivers from the cold air.

 

Kyuhyun nods to the bottom of the hill. “You should look at your jeep.”

 

Donghae feels nothing at seeing the smashed window.

 

“You didn’t cut yourself, did you?” he asks, concerned over Kyuhyun rather than his jeep.

 

Kyuhyun looks taken aback at the lack of care over his vehicle.

 

“Only a little?” he admits slowly, unsure.

 

_He got hurt because of me,_ Donghae’s shifter whines.

 

Donghae’s face tightens.

 

_Learn from this, and don’t ever do it again._ Donghae warns it.

 

“-hae?”

 

“Hmm?” Donghae catches the end of his name and glances up from where he had been looking at Kyuhyun’s hands, trying to find the cut.

 

“Were you talking to him?” Kyuhyun asks, intrigued, as he obeys Donghae’s wave to show him his hands.

 

He nods as he turns Kyuhyun’s hands over.

 

“Told you it was only little,” Kyuhyun teases as Donghae eyes the plaster covering the cut.

 

“He says, ‘sorry’,” Donghae relays when his shifter begins to urge for him to do so.

 

“Can I ask about it?” Kyuhyun questions as Donghae continues to inspect his hands.

 

His immediate response is to deny it, but for the first time since they’ve met, they’re getting along nicely without any tension on Donghae’s end.

 

So, he nods.

 

Kyuhyun takes his time to ask his first question.

 

“Is it like a separate personality?”

 

Donghae smiles at the question.

 

“For some, yes.” He turns Kyuhyun’s hand over to compare the softness against his own slightly rougher hands.

 

“Why only some?”

 

“Genetics,” Donghae shrugs as he says it. “Depending on that, some shifters are born with their shifter sharing their head and how active it is within your mind.”

 

“I don’t know if I understand fully...” Kyuhyun admits hesitantly.

 

Donghae taps the back of Kyuhyun’s open left hand. “This is you, your mind, personality; your being.”

 

He closes Kyuhyun’s right hand so that it forms a fist. “And this is your shifter.”

 

“The more dormant your shifter is, the more space there is for just you and your own thoughts and what not.” Donghae explains as he keeps Kyuhyun’s hand in a fist.

 

“But, depending on how active it is,” Donghae begins to loosen Kyuhyun’s fist so that his hand stretches out, “the more it grows with you, joining to you.”

 

“And yours is active?” Kyuhyun asks, wonderment adorning his face as he stares down at their hands.

 

“And he became even more active when you came on the scene,” Donghae confirms.

 

“So he can control you, right?”

 

Donghae pulls a face. “His emotions and influence can affect me, but he’s not meant to take control over me in this form.”

 

“So he did something he’s not meant to do?” Kyuhyun smiles, finding it a little bit amusing.

 

“He took advantage over the weak mental state I was in and slyly began to influence my body control so that I ended up in your neighbourhood,” Donghae grumbles under his breath.

 

_And I promised not to do it again!_

“We both know you’ll do it again,” Donghae hisses quietly, but Kyuhyun catches it.

 

“Let me guess, he’s arguing his case?” Kyuhyun laughs.

 

His shifter practically glows at the acknowledgment.

 

Donghae shoves him away into a corner.

 

“Anything else?” he asks in order to distract himself from the way his shifter regards Kyuhyun.

 

“You mentioned about forms?” Kyuhyun asks delicately, unsure if he’s using the right term.

 

Donghae knows he has to lie about this one.

 

Kyuhyun is definitely not ready to learn about his....other form.

 

 So he lets Kyuhyun know about shifters ‘pet forms’, and that in those who are different, they have vastly different forms all together.

 

He twisted the truth a lot, but Kyuhyun bought it and understood it.

 

By the time he’s done, Kyuhyun is shaking from the cold.

 

“Come on,” Donghae orders softly as he rises to head back inside, but Kyuhyun grabs him and shakes his head.

 

“Do you think you can drive?” the vet asks him.

 

Donghae frowns down at him in confusion. “You want me to leave?”

 

Kyuhyun shakes his head, confusing him further.

 

“I...it feels strange to be in there knowing what I know now.” He admits softly, expression ashamed of his feelings.

 

Donghae pulls him up gently.

 

“She’s still your sister and they’re still your family, and this is your home,” he reminds encouragingly. “You’re hurt now, but don’t forget that.”

 

Kyuhyun nods, but makes no move to go into the house.

 

Donghae nudges him to the door. “Go get some more of your things.”

 

The relief hits Donghae as it explodes onto Kyuhyun’s expression, and he hurries inside to get his things.

 

Donghae waits until the door is shut, the faint sound of Kyuhyun racing up the stairs fading, before he looks back out into the street.

 

More correctly, he stares at the figure standing four houses away, hiding in the shadows. Still in the same spot Donghae had spied when he’d looked at his jeep.

 

The wind changes and brings the scent of the shifter.

 

Donghae’s own shifter roars in his ears.

 

They keep eye contact as Donghae walks to where it’s lurking.

 

Surprisingly, the shifter doesn’t run away this time.

 

“It’s yours now, I won’t challenge you.” It defends once Donghae’s close enough to hear it.

 

Donghae doesn’t respond as he comes to a stop; just continues to stare at the male.

 

The shifter starts to submit a little under his stare.

 

“Just wanted to see if it was you,” it mumbles, bowing slightly under Donghae’s stare.

 

Donghae’s moving before he even realises it.

 

The shifter chokes and claws at his hands as Donghae rams him into the stone wall of the house, the shadows covering them.

 

Donghae’s nails elongate and shift into razor sharp claws.

 

He takes pleasure in the popping sound the shifter’s skin makes as he breaks the skin.

 

“You attacked him and his sister,” Donghae calmly states as it kicks at him. “Stupid move,” he comments, his own shifter clawing at him to rip the shifter’s throat out, urging him to destroy the cause of Kyuhyun’s fear.

 

Donghae feels his skin shift on his arms as the stone cracks behind the shifter from the pressure Donghae’s using.

 

The shifter is dying in his hands.

 

Donghae can smell the death coming.

 

“You picked the wrong human,” Donghae snarls in its face as he overpowers the feline-shifter completely.

 

Distantly, he hears Kyuhyun call out his name.

 

Donghae yanks his nails clear and the shifter drops like a bag of stones to the ground, gasping and choking on his blood.

 

“If there is a god, he’ll allow you to bleed to death tonight,” Donghae hisses as he crouches down in front of the shifter.

 

Kyuhyun calls his name again.

 

Donghae yanks out a handful of the shifter’s hair, and the pain doesn’t even register over the pain of having his neck cut multiple times on each side.

 

“Just in case you manage to live,” Donghae says as he pockets the hair in his jean’s pocket.

 

The shifter begins to shift into its pet form, since that’s the only form an average feline-shifter like itself can do.

 

“Let’s hope that I don’t have to come looking for you,” he spits, and the cat leaves a trail of blood as it stumbles as it runs the best it can down the street.

 

Donghae peeks around the stone wall of the house to see Kyuhyun head back into the house, and he hurries over to his jeep, praying that it’s unlocked.

 

Trying the door, Donghae dives into the front seat and yanks open the compartment under the dash for wet wipes to get rid of the blood on his hands and nails.

 

As he scrubs, Donghae’s shifter berates him for not killing the feline-shifter then and there.

 

“How can I explain a dead body outside his house?” he hisses as the skin on his arms shifts back to normal.

 

_And what if it comes back?_

 

Donghae pats his jeans pocket.

 

“I’ll track and kill him.” He promises. _We’ve done it before._

 

His shifter settles at that.

 

“Donghae!” Kyuhyun calls as he comes down the hill towards him.

 

Donghae shoves the bloody wipes into the compartment and shuts it as he waves at him.

 

He just needs to remember to get rid of them before Kyuhyun can find out just what a canine-shifter is truly like.

 

He wonders how much longer he can get away with hiding his true nature from Kyuhyun.

 

Donghae takes a deep breath as Kyuhyun gets inside.

 

He also wonders what will be the final straw that will break him and cause him to reveal all to the vet.

 

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

 

 

 

 

_Kyuhyun couldn’t breathe as he chased after Ara, who was screaming at him to stop chasing her with the mud in his hands._

_His father eventually stepped in when Ara hid behind him, telling Kyuhyun to go clean his hands in the stream near where they were setting up their camping area._

_His sibling stuck her tongue out as his father nudged him in the direction._

_Kyuhyun purposely threw the mud so that it would avoid her, but would still make her scream._

_He ran away laughing, smiling hugely as his sister promised revenge._

_Kyuhyun loved their camping holidays. The wilderness and the clean fresh air made Kyuhyun feel freer than he did back home in the city._

_Humming to himself, Kyuhyun made his way through the trees towards the stream that wasn’t that far away._

_As he washed his hands, Kyuhyun tried not to think about his life back home and the pressure of his upcoming middle school entrance exams, but the peacefulness within the forest._

_His mother hadn’t came with them this time, since she couldn’t close her newly opened flower shop, so it was just him, his father, and his sister._

_Wiping his hands on his hiking trousers, Kyuhyun stayed there, crouched as he shut his eyes, just listening to the forest._

_When his thighs began to ache from the position, Kyuhyun reluctantly rose and started to head back to their camp for the weekend._

_As he was about to leave the area though, he heard the loud sound of shrubbery snapping come from behind him._

_Turning cautiously, Kyuhyun eyed the area he heard the noise come from._

_You don’t get bears or wolves in South Korea, so Kyuhyun wasn’t worried about that._

_But he’s heard the stories of wild dogs roaming the woods, starved and unfriendly._

_A wild rabbit quickly dove from it and into another, causing Kyuhyun to relax and smile._

_Heading back to camp, Kyuhyun paused as he felt something._

_Like something was watching him._

_Shrugging off the paranoia, Kyuhyun walked a bit faster back to camp._

_Only to realise his camp isn’t where it should be._

_Kyuhyun’s heart began to race with alarm, stomach falling as he spun around to make sure._

_As he called out for his dad, Kyuhyun’s body tensed with fear, heart tripping as his voice echoed around the dead silence._

_He turned and raced back the way he came._

Kyuhyun woke up to his legs fighting with the blankets, the back of his neck damp with sweat as well as his heart racing from the dream.

 

He hasn’t dreamt about his camping trips in a long time. He doesn’t like to think of them anymore.

 

Shoving the blankets off him, the cool air immediately caused him to shiver as he stared up at the ceiling.

 

Once his heart rate had returned to a normal pace, Kyuhyun couldn’t get back to sleep. Seeing that it was 5am, Kyuhyun sighed and got up. Looking out into the Donghae’s room, he saw that the male’s room was in darkness still.

 

After what happened at Kyuhyun’s house a few days ago, things between him and Donghae had changed.

 

Sure, Donghae was still edgy around Kyuhyun, especially after long periods being in the same room as each other, but the air between them was no longer awkward.

 

Donghae had taken the initiative to educate Kyuhyun about his life, this new world.

 

Slowly, Kyuhyun was putting two-and-two together with what he’s learnt and applied it to some of Donghae’s characteristics and behaviour.

 

He knew when the male and his shifter were arguing because Donghae would become still and silent, his expression a war of emotions which Kyuhyun would only be allowed to briefly see before the male would hurry to leave the room.

 

He knew that, because of his scent, Donghae’s control was continuing to slip.

 

Kyuhyun knew immediately when his control had slipped because instead of running away from Kyuhyun, he would come closer to him, his whole demeanour changing before Kyuhyun’s eyes.

 

It unnerved him to see that. To see how warm and soft looking the male’s light brown eyes would become as he spoke to Kyuhyun in a voice that captivated him, making him a puppet to Donghae’s voice.

 

Just last night, before they went their separate ways for bed, Donghae had cornered him at the stairs. Kyuhyun hadn’t expected it; he was in a world of his own, thinking about work when he felt the older male come up behind him. When he questioned what Donghae wanted, the male simply touched his hair, moving it so that it wasn’t annoying Kyuhyun’s vision.

 

The action had caused goosebumps to erupt over Kyuhyun’s skin, heart slightly racing as he took in that earthy musk he could only smell on or around Donghae. He could only watch as Donghae took great care into moving his hair into a new style, entranced but also scared at seeing the look on the shifter’s face.

 

It only lasted, at most, a minute. The second Donghae slipped back into control, he pushed Kyuhyun aside and raced up the stairs. The slam of his bedroom door was his goodnight, leaving Kyuhyun standing on the stairs with a strange fluttering feeling.

 

Shaking his head slightly to get rid of the memory, Kyuhyun made his bed in order to distract himself.

 

He could see the warning signs, and Kyuhyun was going to do his best to follow them.

 

 

 

Hearing the click of a door opening, Donghae felt himself tense, waking from the light sleep he had been in.

 

Tracking the sound of Kyuhyun’s door clicking shut, Donghae listened to the male move past his bedroom and towards the stairs.

 

A glance at the clock told him the time and he frowned, racking his mind if he forgot that Kyuhyun had an early shift at the vets.

 

Curious now that he was certain the vet didn’t have an early shift, Donghae slipped from his bed and towards the windows.

 

He angled himself so that his profile was hidden as he watched the kitchen light come on and saw Kyuhyun head towards the fridge. Watching him, Donghae took in the dishevelled appearance of the younger male and watched as he took a long drink from a bottle of water he’d retrieved.

 

As Kyuhyun went to look out at the garden below them, Donghae tilted his head as his curiosity spiked higher.

 

The male looked to be in a world of his own, staring out into the darkness as he played with the condensation on the cold water bottle.

 

Donghae may have only known him a short time, but even he knew that if it wasn’t because of work, Kyuhyun would sleep in late. He craved his hours of sleep, so seeing the male awake at this hour made Donghae curious.

 

Deciding to investigate, Donghae moved away from the window.

 

As he opened his bedroom door quietly, he immediately was smacked in the nose with a fresh dose of Kyuhyun’s scent.

 

His shifter made a sound of contentment while his head pulsed in an achy way. Pausing to collect himself, Donghae noticed the scent of fresh sweat mingling with Kyuhyun’s, and also the small hint of bitterness.

 

Frowning at that, Donghae moved towards Kyuhyun’s room.

 

As his shifter made itself known by berating him for going into Kyuhyun’s space, Donghae cracked open the door a little.

 

The stench of fear smacked into him, causing him to hiss and his shifter to turn aggressive, demanding to know what’s scared Kyuhyun.

 

Before he was fully aware, he found himself halfway down the stairs.

 

“Oh, did I wake you?” Kyuhyun asks, surprised as he turns to look over at Donghae.

 

Breathing hard as he tried to shut his shifter out of his focus, Donghae grounded his feet to the spot, not wanting to spook Kyuhyun further. “Why are you scared?”

 

Kyuhyun gave him a puzzled look. “I’m not.”

 

Donghae takes in a deep breath, tries not to wince at Kyuhyun’s effect on him and sees that Kyuhyun’s telling the truth.

 

He gestures to upstairs. “I could smell it.”

 

Kyuhyun’s puzzlement gives way as his face turns red. “Ah....yeah, I just had an unwanted dream,” he says awkwardly, avoiding Donghae’s eye.

 

Donghae and his shifter relax a little. “You had a nightmare,” he sighs, relieved.

 

“It wasn’t a nightmare,” Kyuhyun scowls. “I just don’t like dreaming about it.”

 

“So isn’t that classed as a nightmare?”

 

Kyuhyun gives him a look. “No,” he says shortly. “A nightmare is a fear tormenting you in your sleep, mine wasn’t that.”

 

“So what was it?” Donghae questions as he moves to sit at the table.

 

Kyuhyun turns his back to him, going back to look out at the garden. “It was nothing.”

 

Donghae bit his tongue. Instead, he read Kyuhyun’s body language.

 

The male had his arms folded, held tight to his chest with his hand tightly holding onto the bottle, his shoulders were a little bit tensed too.

 

At the sniff of Kyuhyun’s irritation, Donghae forced himself to drop the topic.

 

“Breakfast?” he asks lightly, hoping Kyuhyun will see it as a peace offering.

 

Kyuhyun shrugs. “Are you going to burn it this time?”

 

Donghae rolls his eyes whilst his shifter applauds Kyuhyun’s sarcasm.

 

As he gets everything ready, Kyuhyun leaves him to go back upstairs. Donghae slyly tracks what Kyuhyun’s doing as he listens whilst he works silently. At the sound of a shower being turned on, Donghae feels his curiosity return.

 

He wondered what it was that Kyuhyun had dreamt about, and didn’t want to dream of again.

 

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

 

 

 

_So he was lost._

_Which was ridiculous; he had come this way!_

_Standing by the stream again, Kyuhyun tried desperately to pick up sounds of his father or sister, only to hear none._

_What he did hear was the sound of the forest slowly coming to life as the sky began to darken with every passing minute._

_He needed to get back before dark comes._

_He needed to._

 

 

Feeling a prod to his shoulder blade, Kyuhyun almost spilt his water over his lunch in surprise.

 

“Daydreaming?” Taeyeon smiles as she sits across him at the small table in the staff room.

 

Kyuhyun clears his throat, cheeks warm. “How can I daydream with what that bastard has done now,” he grounds out, his anger from earlier today returning.

 

They were shutting down. His bastard of a boss had sold them to a chain of vets that didn’t cater for those who didn’t have pet plans or high income.

 

He’s only got three more weeks left of helping strays and struggling pet owners.

 

Kyuhyun was livid.

 

“I take it you’re going to refuse his offer?” Taeyeon asks softly.

 

Kyuhyun stabs his chopsticks into the cup of ramen. “I haven’t decided. But probably.”

 

Taeyeon nods in understanding. “I need the money,” she says softly. “I can’t afford to walk out.”

 

Kyuhyun feels his temples tighten, but he does understand, even if he doesn’t want to.

 

Not everyone is willing to walk out on a job to stand by their morals or opinions. The real world isn’t like that, and as much as Kyuhyun detests what the male as done and what it means for those poor animals that’ll no longer get help, he needs to remind himself that he still has student loans to pay off, and hospital bills to pay.

 

He can’t be reckless, but it would kill him if he stayed.

 

As his ramen grew cold, Kyuhyun came up with a solution.

 

He just needed to find another practise willing to help and support the less fortunate and work there.

 

Kyuhyun didn’t want to admit to himself how foolish that plan sounded, especially considering what he knows of the current situation within Seoul’s veterinary world.

 

But he wasn’t going to give up straightaway. He was going to fight before he allowed his morals to be crushed.

 

 

 

“Where did the copy of the hospital bill go?” Donghae asked as he ransacked his desk.

 

Hyukjae dodged a wad of papers. “I told you, they won’t issue one yet.”

 

Donghae stops searching. “Oh yeah....”

 

Hyukjae clears his throat and holds out a folder. “This is the bills for labour and materials this month for the build in Gangnam.”

 

Donghae waves towards his desk. “Just put it down somewhere.”

 

“And have it vanish underneath the mess you’ve caused?” Hyukjae scoffs. “At least go through it now before you lose it.”

 

Donghae takes it roughly, mind distracted as thinks over the list he made to do concerning Kyuhyun. “Are you sure the hospital knows that all bills are to be made out to me, and not Kyuhyun?”

 

Hyukjae heaves a long sigh. “Yes, Hae.”

 

Donghae drops down into his chair, brows furrowed. “Then that’s not it.”

 

Hyukjae stares at him. “What’s, ‘that’s not it?’”

 

Donghae racks his mind harder, ignoring the pressure of his shifter against his mind. “His sister shows no sign of deteriorating, so it’s not that.....”

 

“Hae....”

 

“And that shifter is dead because I checked myself a few days ago,” Donghae mumbles to himself.

 

“Donghae....”

 

“Could be he’s worried about his parents coming back this weekend,” Donghae continues to speak to himself, Hyukjae forgotten.

 

Hyukjae bangs on his desk to get his attention again. “Will you tell me what hell you’re mumbling about?”

 

“Kyuhyun,” Donghae tells him, as if it’s the most simple and obvious thing to know.

 

Hyukjae’s jaw muscles clenches slightly. “What about him,” he grits out, annoyed.

 

Donghae waves his hands uselessly, the folder going flying across his office. “I don’t know!” he complains, frustrated. “He’s been quiet and emotional the last couple of days and I don’t know why!”

 

Hyukjae stares at the thrown folder. “That took me an hour to get everything together.”

 

Donghae spins his chair around to look out at the city view. “I’ll clean it up in a minute,” he grumbles, his head killing him as his shifter continues to rile him about Kyuhyun.

 

He hears Hyukjae do it anyway.

 

“Why are you so bothered about him anyway?” Hyukjae demands as he slaps the folder back onto his desk. “Shouldn’t you be getting him out of your place now that you’ve taken care of his attacker?”

 

Donghae spins his chair back round to pin Hyukjae with a hard look that has the shifter immediately sitting down.

 

“His sister is still in hospital,” he reminds Hyukjae in a low tone, and the male nods quickly in understanding. “They’re both still in my care and Kyuhyun will have to remain close to me because of what he knows now.”

 

“Once his sister is healthy again, you can keep an eye on him from his own home....” Hyukjae trails off as Donghae’s stare hardens.

 

Silence reigns over them, and Hyuk drops his gaze from Donghae’s.

 

“How are we doing for time?” Donghae asks, referring to the job. “No more bother from site?”

 

Hyuk shakes his head. “I told you, the teen-shifter made an honest mistake.”

 

Donghae stares at the folder, ignoring the awkward atmosphere continuing to build. “I’ll drop by later, check the progress.”

 

Hyukjae nods as he rises. “Anything else?”

 

Donghae shakes his head.

 

As Hyukjae silently leaves, Donghae’s shifter presses harder against his mind, a suffocating weight as it continues to bug him about the mystery surrounding Kyuhyun at the moment.

 

Groaning, Donghae screws his eyes together and massages his temples, his head thumping.

 

“Maybe you should have a break.”

 

Body tensing, Donghae cracked open an eye to see Hyukjae standing with the door open, a concerned expression on the male’s face. “I don’t need one.”

 

Hyukjae fidgets a little. “Me and Siwon could stay with Kyuhyun, keep an eye-”

 

“-I’m not leaving,” Donghae cuts over, tone sharp.

 

Hyukjae bites his lip, nods, and leaves the office.

 

Donghae’s temples pulse harder as his body only grows tenser.

 

Donghae makes a pained sound as his mind rings with the sound of his shifter’s outraged cry.

 

He can’t leave Kyuhyun; he couldn’t even if he wanted to.

 

His shifter is far too attached to the human now, and Donghae doesn’t want to risk having his control tested and broken if he attempted to leave the human for a little bit.

 

He’ll wait.

 

He can still cope.

 

He just needs to know what the hell is bugging Kyuhyun and his shifter in turn will stop harassing Donghae.

 

 

 

Kyuhyun couldn’t even look at him.

 

“She’s doing well,” the doctors assures his mother, who is cradling Ara’s hand. “We’re hoping to wean her out of the unconscious state we put her in sometime next week.”

 

Kyuhyun’s father glanced at him, Kyuhyun looked away.

 

“Why would anyone want to attack her?” his mother angrily declares, upset as she strokes Ara’s cheek. “She keeps to herself.”

 

Kyuhyun has told his parents a completely different story about how Ara had gotten hurt. In order to protect Donghae and what he is, Kyuhyun twisted the truth a little.

 

“Honey, tomorrow you’re going to install a proper house alarm,” his mother orders to his father whom nods. “I will not have my family go through something like this again.”

 

“Did the police ever find the burglars?” his father asks him, voice quiet as he directs his attention to Kyuhyun fully.

 

Kyuhyun ignores him. “No.”

 

Hearing his father sigh, Kyuhyun moves to whisper to his mother that he needed to go, and as he turns to leave, he nods at his father to follow him.

 

Out in the corridor, Kyuhyun shoves his hands into his jacket pockets as he watches his father.

 

“Kyuhyun, I-”

 

“There’s nothing really to explain, is there?” Kyuhyun cuts in; tone cold. “You cheated, and I was a result of that and you got lumped with me.”

 

“I don’t know what you want me to say, son.” His father sighs, helpless as he stares at Kyuhyun.

 

“You have no clue about my birth mother?” Kyuhyun demands. “Where she is or if she is even alive?”

 

“Kyuhyun-”

 

“Do you even know her name?!” Kyuhyun snaps, furious as his father continues to look pitiful. “Do you have any record of her from being admitted to hospital with me?”

 

His father nods. “But I haven’t been able to find her, Kyu,” he desperately tells Kyuhyun as he follows after Kyuhyun down the corridor.

 

“Don’t follow me,” Kyuhyun hisses out, spinning to look at him. “Is the record at home?”

 

His father nods. Kyuhyun knows where his father keeps important documents, so he knows where to find it.

 

He doesn’t say another word to his father as he leaves him standing in the corridor looking sorry for himself.

 

He has no right to look like that. He made his bed, now he has to lie in it.

 

 

 

Donghae stared at the male in surprise. “I thought you were with your parents?”

 

Kyuhyun didn’t even react to his question or presence as he sat in the living room, nose buried in a medical looking file.

 

Reading the atmosphere surrounding the human, Donghae eases away into the kitchen.

 

After five minutes of watching the vet from the kitchen window, Donghae gathers his guts and goes to investigate.

 

“Have you brought work home?” Donghae asks casually as he sits down away from Kyuhyun.

 

Kyuhyun scowls harder at the file.

 

Donghae’s shifter doesn’t know how to react, just like Donghae.

 

Donghae taps his knee as he continues to watch Kyuhyun’s mood. “How did your parents take the news?”

 

“They were overjoyed,” Kyuhyun sarcastically says, not looking up from whatever it is he’s reading.

 

Donghae and his shifter react to the uncalled for sarcasm. “Don’t be rude, Kyuhyun,” he warns lightly, his taping on his knee stopping as he stares at Kyuhyun.

 

“Then don’t ask stupid questions.”

 

Donghae’s hands clench his knees as he sucks in a quiet deep breath.

 

Kyuhyun must have sensed Donghae’s change in mood because he glances up at him.

 

“You’re walking a very thin line right now, Kyuhyun,” Donghae warns again, tone dipping, and Kyuhyun looks at him in confusion but with a hint of anger too.

 

“How is that?” he demands, the file in his hands dropping slightly as he focuses on Donghae. “What have I done?”

 

“For the last few days you’ve been a walking black storm,” Donghae grits out. “Explain.”

 

Kyuhyun gives him a dirty look. “I don’t have to explain every inch of my life to you now, do I?”

 

_Wrong move._

Donghae hears his shifter make that comment, but it doesn’t register.

 

All that registers is that Kyuhyun’s scent has gotten a lot stronger, a lot sharper due to his anger, and that with along what Kyuhyun had said, has triggered a reaction deep within Donghae.

 

As his ears ring, his skin tingling, Donghae can smell himself – his own scent – flooding the room.

 

Donghae finds that his eyes are shut, and as he opens them again, his whole being stills.

 

The reason why Kyuhyun’s scent had gotten stronger is due to him cowering back against the sofa as Donghae cages his body with his arms on either side of his head.

 

“D-Donghae,” Kyuhyun weakly says, his scent causing Donghae’s brain to shut down.

 

Donghae knows he’s the one in control this time, it’s all him and not his shifter influencing him.

 

He’s the one putting himself dangerously close to Kyuhyun.

 

“-Hae?” Kyuhyun’s voice breaks through to him again, and the poor vet looks so uncomfortable, his face red as he stares up at Donghae.

 

Donghae feels his shifter at the back of his mind, and it’s encouraging him.

 

Encouraging him to do what, Donghae doesn’t know.

 

“You’re stuck with me in your life now, Kyuhyun.” Donghae says, and is surprised at how soft and calm his voice is, considering he was furious a mere second ago. “I need you to stop fighting that.”

 

“You don’t need to know everything, Donghae.” Kyuhyun defends, though it isn’t said as firmly since he’s still looking up at Donghae with wary eyes.

 

_But we do,_ his shifter says and Donghae nods in agreement as he stares down at Kyuhyun, breathing in that tantalising scent.

 

Being so close to Kyuhyun like this, and being aware of it, Donghae can feel the heat start to burn in his stomach, a slow burn as his hearing focuses only on Kyuhyun.

 

Hearing the slight race to Kyuhyun’s breathing, Donghae finds it interesting, and eyes the way Kyuhyun’s face turns to a softer shade of red, which is strange to see on the male’s pale skin, and the way Kyuhyun’s brown eyes are almost black as they stare up at him; Donghae quite likes the dark shade.

 

Kyuhyun’s lips are moving, but Donghae can’t catch what Kyuhyun is saying.

 

All he can hear is his shifter whispering to him, and feel Kyuhyun’s scent wrap around him as he feels something under his skin.

 

Pressure against his chest has Donghae looking down.

 

Kyuhyun’s hands are clenched in his shirt, his fists pushing against Donghae.

 

Kyuhyun was rejecting him.

 

 

 

The second he pushed against Donghae to put some clear air between them since all Kyuhyun could smell was that earthy musk clouding his senses, everything changed.

 

Kyuhyun jolted before freezing as a white hot fear raced through his body as the shifter’s eyes changed, following the most terrifying growl Kyuhyun has ever heard.

 

Kyuhyun’s seen Donghae be influenced by his shifter before, but nothing like this.

 

The colour of amber appearing where Donghae’s brown eye colour used to be had Kyuhyun staring, unable to accept the change even as Donghae crowded him further against the sofa until Kyuhyun had slipped down it a little so that he was almost lying down.

 

“Donghae!” Kyuhyun desperately calls, terrified out of his mind as the male’s body seems to grow bigger, thicker as the seconds pass.

 

Donghae grabs the hands he had fisted in the shifter’s shirt, and Kyuhyun jolts in surprise at how hot the male’s skin is.

 

As Donghae breaks his grip on the material, Kyuhyun’s heart almost stops as the shifter’s amber eyes force him not to look away.

 

“Donghae?” Kyuhyun whispers as silence reigns over them.

 

Somewhere in the distance, a ringing shatters the silence.

 

Kyuhyun recognises it as Donghae’s phone ringing, but the shifter hasn’t even reacted to the noise. He just keeps staring at Kyuhyun with low growling sounds being made.

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t move him this time, recognising his mistake now. He was told never to anger or challenge a shifter, and he had done both within the span of a minute.

 

The ringing cuts off and the sound of the intercom going off has Kyuhyun slowly looking under Donghae’s arm at the intercom monitor.

 

Donghae makes a sound at his movement and he promptly freezes again.

 

The intercom stops, then the sound of someone banging outside has Kyuhyun worried.

 

Donghae lets out a vicious growl that sends Kyuhyun’s heart up into his mouth as the shifter pushes off the sofa and stalks over to the intercom.

 

Kyuhyun starts to shake, a rush of adrenaline flooding him as he tries to get to his feet while Donghae barks at the person outside to get lost.

 

Kyuhyun knows he can’t get past him to get to the front door, so he heads for the stairs, hoping he’ll be fast enough to lock himself away in his room.

 

As he races into the kitchen, he hears Donghae go silent.

 

One hand on the handrail of the stairs, Kyuhyun skids slightly on the white flooring as he goes to sprint up the stairs.

 

As his hand leaves the handrail, Donghae grabs his wrist from behind.

 

As he’s tugged backwards, Kyuhyun lets out a startled cry as he begins to fall, off balanced from the tug.

 

He grunts as he slams into Donghae’s unmoving form that seems to dwarf Kyuhyun’s build on the narrow stairs, and as he tries to right himself and get away from the suffocating scent that’s playing havoc with his mind, Kyuhyun lets out a loud surprised gasp as he falls backwards.

 

Eyes clenched shut as he braces for the pain of the stairs connecting with his back, Kyuhyun feels himself relax slightly as he’s eased onto them.

 

Opening his eyes slowly, Kyuhyun starts to pant a little erratically at the close proximity with Donghae.

 

“I’m sorry,” Donghae whispers, eyes still amber as he cradles Kyuhyun against him as he holds him against the stairs, protecting him with his hands so that the edges of the stairs don’t press against his upper and lower back.

 

Hearing something loud and strong banging against the front door, Kyuhyun tenses up again.

 

Donghae tenses as well, eyes darting up at the sound as his mouth lifts in a snarl.

 

Hearing the muffled voices belonging to Yunho, Kyuhyun watches as Donghae’s face turns even more aggressive.

 

But his hold on Kyuhyun remains gentle.

 

Confused, Kyuhyun dares to press a hand lightly to Donghae’s shoulder, not pushing him, but holding him.

 

Donghae snaps his gaze back to him, eyes warning him.

 

“What are you doing?” Kyuhyun asks quietly, his heart racing slightly. “What is this?”

 

Another loud bang and the sound of the door weakening makes Donghae’s amber eyes harden.

 

Kyuhyun pushes for an answer. “Donghae?”

 

The front door breaks, and he hears a commotion happen in the entranceway.

 

Donghae’s hold on him vanishes and Kyuhyun gives himself a head rush as he sits up quick to grab after the shifter, afraid to have Donghae confirm what Kyuhyun thinks he’s about to do.

 

As Kyuhyun stumbles off the stairs, he sees Yunho and Siwon race into the room, twin expressions of worry and urgency.

 

Kyuhyun sees Donghae move, sees Yunho move to get something from his coat pocket, and feels his heart stop as the force of Donghae’s command rings through the air.

 

As Donghae meets with Yunho with Siwon hurrying over to him, Kyuhyun gasps as Donghae’s body jerks sharply, and the room goes still as the three shifters don’t move.

 

Kyuhyun stares at the shifter’s back. Slowly, he sees the huge broad body shrink a little, Donghae’s body going back to his normal broadness as he grabs at Yunho.

 

“Easy,” Yunho soothes as he holds Donghae, and Kyuhyun doesn’t tear his eyes away as Donghae is slowly eased to the floor by the older shifter.

 

“Kyuhyun?” Siwon calls his name in concern, and Kyuhyun steps forward as Yunho checks his pulse as he pockets the syringe with his other hand.

 

“Is he okay?” Kyuhyun asks; his voice shot from the shock of everything.

 

Yunho sighs, but looks up at Kyuhyun. “He will be.”

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t know what the shifter means by that, but considering Donghae had commanded for the shifter to subdue him, must mean that Donghae knows exactly what’s wrong.

 

“I didn’t mean to make him angry,” Kyuhyun whispers, guilt punching him in his gut. “I took my anger out on him. He didn’t do anything wrong.”

 

Siwon slips closer to him, and the male’s clean unearthy scent only magnifies Donghae’s earthy musk.

 

Kyuhyun prefers Donghae’s.

 

“Call Hyuk,” Yunho says softly as he bends to lift Donghae up into his arms.

 

Kyuhyun feels a rise of emotion in him as Yunho moves to leave with Donghae’s unconscious body, and it takes him a few seconds to name it.

 

“Where are you taking him?” He demands as he follows the shifter.

 

Siwon’s hand on his shoulder stops him from following and he turns on the shifter.

 

“Yunho-hyung is going to keep an eye on him for a few days,” Siwon explains before Kyuhyun can argue with him.

 

“Why?” Kyuhyun questions, that emotion still riding him hard. “He’s done nothing wrong!”

 

“Kyuhyun, he could have killed you, he wasn’t in the right frame of mind,” Siwon gently explains.

 

Kyuhyun calls bullshit because Donghae had his chances of hurting him and he never did.

 

“Why are you two here?” Kyuhyun demands as he shrugs off Siwon’s hand. “How did you know to come?”

 

“Hyuk asked Yunho-hyung to check on Donghae since he hadn’t been feeling well earlier at work, and since he’s already in Donghae’s bad books, he asked me to tag along.”

 

“Donghae wasn’t feeling well?” Kyuhyun repeats, confused. “He seemed alright this morning.”

 

Siwon shrugs. “I’m just a messenger.”

 

Kyuhyun turns at the sound of Yunho coming back. “I’ll take him to a clinic I work with so I can keep an eye on him for a few days,” Yunho explains.

 

That emotion twists in his gut but he squashes it, not wanting to feel or acknowledge it anymore. “Am I to stay here?” he asks.

 

“You can go back to your family, I guess,” Yunho says and Siwon nods.

 

“But,” Kyuhyun frowns, “what about the shifter that attacked us?”

 

Both shifters frown as well. “You don’t know?”

 

Kyuhyun pulls a face. “Know what?”

 

Yunho’s face turns expressionless and Siwon fidgets.

 

“The shifter is dead,” Siwon tells Kyuhyun. “We got the news a few days ago.”

 

Kyuhyun does nothing but stare at them.

 

Why would Donghae keep that from him?

 

“How did he die?” Kyuhyun asks neutrally.

 

“He was attacked.”

 

Kyuhyun nods slowly, but his mind is working fast.

 

“So I can leave now?” Kyuhyun questions softly. “My sister is safe now?”

 

Siwon gives him a small smile. “You’re both safe now.”

 

Strange, he could have sworn Donghae had said something that he was stuck in Kyuhyun’s life now.

 

Kyuhyun forces a smile. “I think I should wait and see what Donghae says.”

 

As Siwon deliberates with Kyuhyun’s choice, Kyuhyun spies Yunho watching him closely.

 

Making eye contact with the older shifter, Kyuhyun hopes the male can read him correctly.

 

As Siwon says something that Kyuhyun isn’t listening to, Yunho nods ever so slightly.

 

Kyuhyun lets out a discreet sigh of relief at it.

 

“Can you pack a bag of clothes for Donghae?” Yunho asks of Kyuhyun, and he nods. “Pack one for yourself too.”

 

At that, Siwon gapes at the shifter. “Hyung, the whole point-”

 

“I know what needs to be done, and I’ll need Kyuhyun’s help in order to do it.” Yunho cuts over Siwon’s argument. “He will be staying with me.”

 

“What about work?” Siwon demands as he rounds on Kyuhyun, face desperate. “Plus your family is back now so shouldn’t you want to return home?”

 

Kyuhyun gives Yunho a look. “I’m needed elsewhere.”

 

Yunho smiles slightly. “Hurry up and pack. I want to have Donghae settled in a bed and not in the back of my jeep.”

 

Ignoring Siwon’s fussing, Kyuhyun leaves them.

 

He’s going to be getting the truth once and for all.

 

That big question mark hanging over this is going to be erased, hopefully, for good.

 

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

 

 

 

 

_His knee hurt._

_Rocking slightly as he tried not to make a sound, Kyuhyun felt along the front of his kneecap for any sign of blood. Hissing slightly, he felt a slight dampness on his fingers and knew it was blood from the scrape._

_It was dark now, and Kyuhyun was completely lost._

_He still can’t understand how he had managed to lose his way from such a simple path, but he has._

_Huddling further into his hiding spot to keep himself warm from the chilly breeze blowing through the trees, Kyuhyun tried not to cry._

_He had shouted for his sister and father, but once it grew dark, he become terrified of attracting attention from animals living in the forest._

_He’s completely lost his bearings, and with falling over and hurting his knee, Kyuhyun didn’t want to continue blind in the forest._

_His plan was to wait until dawn; hopefully by then he’d have heard his family or someone calling for him._

_Dropping his head to rest on his knees, Kyuhyun began to softly hum to himself so that it wasn’t so quiet._

_It began to relax him; the slight rocking he was doing helped as well._

_As he drifted off into his own little world, his face shielded between his chest and knees, Kyuhyun shut his eyes and waited._

_The sound of something moving caught his attention over his own humming. Pausing, Kyuhyun listened for the sound of movement._

_Hearing it come from his left, but distant, Kyuhyun began to debate if he should climb the tree he was huddled against._

_Whatever was making the sound stopped and didn’t make another. Kyuhyun relaxed again._

_He fell asleep this time._

Unable to sleep due to that dream continuing to haunt him, Kyuhyun took to wandering the place he was staying in.

 

It was out of Seoul, but not too far into the countryside, just flirting between the two. The clinic that Yunho had brought him and Donghae to was a private clinic for shifters of all kinds. It was like a rehabilitation centre for when a shifter could no longer control itself and needed to find the root to the problem in a secure and safe environment.

 

Yunho owned part of the clinic’s shares and worked actively with those admitted here, so when he came with one unconscious shifter and one awed human, no one really questioned it.

 

Donghae was in the main part of the clinic where Yunho could monitor him safely. Kyuhyun wasn’t allowed to go that far into the clinic when they had arrived, but Yunho assured him that once Donghae was stable, Kyuhyun could see him. In the meantime, Kyuhyun was confined to one of the five the living quarters that were for those who would come to visit someone being treated in the clinic.

 

As Kyuhyun went to sit outside the small cabin he was staying in, he eyed the tree line of the woods.

 

Being near a forest and having that dream made him edgy. The air was clearer since they weren’t in the city, and it was also too quiet. It just made him feel restless.

 

When he got himself settled earlier, he had phoned his boss to let him know he wouldn’t be able to attend work for a few days.

 

His boss almost fired him if Kyuhyun hadn’t used his sister as an excuse.

 

Donghae’s lie from the beginning had finally come into play.

 

As Kyuhyun looked down at the clinic, since the living quarters were up on a hill, he wondered how the male was doing.

 

If he was honest with himself, Kyuhyun was a little bit torn on how he should be feeling.

 

He should be feeling mistrust towards the shifter for having him withhold such important information that concerned his and his sister’s welfare, but Kyuhyun wanted to know more about Donghae, about this world.

 

He wanted to know what the hell happened last night and what it meant.

 

He had promised himself to be careful with Donghae, not to get too close, but Kyuhyun couldn’t help the not-so-tiny part of him that was captivated by the shifter. Donghae intrigued him, he made Kyuhyun’s veterinary training and knowledge want to be expanded, he wanted to learn how shifters worked and lived.

 

But above all of that, Donghae himself fascinated Kyuhyun the most.

 

He could see shadows in the male’s eyes, a past that probably isn’t a nice one due to what he is, and that made Kyuhyun want to know about the male, wanted to know how he’s lived his life and what he enjoys.

 

He wants to know Donghae, but he’s been reluctant to try due to Donghae’s physical reaction to Kyuhyun being near him.

 

But now that they were both at the clinic, Kyuhyun was hoping that things will change.

 

 

 

Donghae was surprised he hadn’t been restrained to his bed.

 

Looking around the room he was in, Donghae tutted to himself at how bare of personality the place had.

 

“I feel right at home,” he says and Yunho snorts at his sarcastic statement.

 

“How you feeling?” the shifter asks as he stands next to Donghae’s bed. “Any numbness lingering?”

 

Donghae shakes his head. “Just hungry.”

 

“I’ll get you some breakfast ordered,” Yunho promises as he notes down something on a clipboard.

 

“So I’m a proper patient here?” he asks as he watches Yunho. “Am I confined to my room?”

 

Yunho gives him a soft look. “It’ll give you time to think.”

 

“About what?”

 

“You know what,” Yunho sighs.

 

Donghae folds his arms and sits himself higher up against his headboard. “I didn’t hurt him,” he says firmly, scowling almost as Yunho moves away.

 

“But you did scare him,” Yunho tells him. “Kyuhyun has no idea what’s going on, he just thinks he made you angry and you snapped.”

 

Donghae flinches slightly at that. “I was angry, but it didn’t last long,” he admits softly.

 

Donghae tenses, alarm rushing through him. “Where is-”

 

“He’s fine,” Yunho interrupts.

 

Donghae’s shifter rouses a little, but the drugs in his system to control it was affecting him.

 

“Trust me, Hae.” Yunho says, and Donghae forces away the paranoia over Kyuhyun’s safety.

 

“He’s been acting off lately,” Donghae says as he tries to convince himself to let go of his _slight_ obsession over the human. “I just wanted to know if he’s being bothered by anything.”

 

Donghae sighs at the look on Yunho’s face. “You’re analysing me already.”

 

“The quicker I can confirm the problem, the quicker you can get out of here.”

 

Donghae rolls his eyes. “The problem is my shifter is far too attached to Kyuhyun.”

 

“If you say so.”

 

Donghae eyes the older shifter. “Then what else can the problem be?”

 

Yunho shakes his head as he heads towards his room’s door. “I’ll see you later, try to get more rest.”

 

As Yunho shuts the door, Donghae’s stomach begins to flutter with nerves.

 

He could never lie successfully to the male.

 

 

 

 

“You want me to stay away?” Kyuhyun repeats.

 

_“Only for a few days,”_ Yunho is quick to assure. _“I need Donghae to have a clear head in order to help him.”_

“So why did you even agree to bring me here?” Kyuhyun hisses down the phone, annoyed as he continues to pace his cabin’s floor.

 

_“I can have Siwon come pick you up-”_

 

“No!” Kyuhyun quickly jumps in. “I’m staying.”

 

_“Kyuhyun, you’re going to be bored being up in that cabin on your own.”_

 

“I’ll find a way to occupy myself, just focus on Donghae.” Kyuhyun promises.

 

There is a pause and Kyuhyun can hear the shifter breathe lightly.

 

_“I have an idea,”_ Yunho says, voice a lot brighter.

 

Kyuhyun stiffens as Yunho tells him his idea.

 

_“He’s the groundskeeper here, but I’m sure you two will get on considering you’re close in age!”_

 

Kyuhyun’s heart is starting the pound already. “Okay, fine,” he relents. “Tell him I’ll join him.”

 

As Yunho hangs up, Kyuhyun puts the cabin’s phone back where it belongs.

 

He tries to ignore the shake in his hand as he stares out at the window.

 

Maybe he can convince this ‘Changmin’ that they can chill inside rather than going wandering around the woods.

 

 

 

So his plan worked...a little.

 

It’s been a day since Kyuhyun met Changmin and he had succeeded in getting the male to stay indoors, thanks to them both arguing and bantering on with each other.

 

Turns out he and Changmin are cut from the same cloth – they’re both stubborn, like to game when they can, and they both have a mutual love for food and sleep.

 

That’s what they did the first night – Changmin brought his laptop over and they ordered take-out and gamed most of the night, while bickering of course.

 

But now, now Changmin is staring at him in amusement.

 

“Scared of the big bad trees?” he mocks as Kyuhyun stands frozen.

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t like how familiar it feels to be back in hiking gear. He doesn’t like the way his stomach is rolling or the way his palms have gone clammy. He doesn’t like the look of those dark clouds coming in from the west.

 

“Stand there gawking at clouds and we’ll lose the light before it rains,” Changmin huffs as he begins his way into the woods.

 

Kyuhyun swallows and forces himself to follow after the male.

 

As every step takes him further away from his cabin and deeper into the woods, Kyuhyun finds it harder to concentrate.

 

He’s in a completely different area to the one he was in when he got lost when he was younger. He shouldn’t be this scared still. But he is. He’s a grown man who knows more about the world now, knows how to find help if he gets lost, but it’s not just that that he’s afraid of.

 

“Come on, slow poke!” Changmin hollers and Kyuhyun loses his train of thought as he stumbles.

 

Focusing on Changmin, Kyuhyun breathes deeply and forces away the memory.

 

 

 

“So, how come you were so spooked to come in here?” Changmin asks curiously as they rest.

 

They’ve been in the woods now for about three hours, and surprisingly, Kyuhyun was still sane.

 

Kyuhyun swallows his mouthful of water. “Just had a bad experience when I was younger,” he says as he shrugs.

 

Changmin hums in acknowledgement. “Did you get lost?”

Kyuhyun pauses a little. “Something like that,” he says vaguely as he looks around them.

 

“Sucks, doesn’t it,” Changmin says with a knowing smile. “I used to get lost and would always swear I’d never set a foot back inside a forest, but look at me now, head groundskeeper.”

 

“How did you get this job anyway?” Kyuhyun asks, leaping for that change of topic.

 

“I just applied for it, thinking it wouldn’t be too hard to do – I dropped out of university since I couldn’t handle the routine – and Yunho was the one interviewing that day.” Changmin explains as he moves over to where Kyuhyun had wandered to. “Careful, there’s a slight drop towards this way.”

 

Kyuhyun nods and backs away. “So he hired you?”

 

Changmin snorts. “Hell no. He said I wasn’t suitable for the role and that I was too young to have such a responsibility.”

 

Kyuhyun stares at him. “So, how did you get here then?”

 

Changmin gives him a little smirk. “I changed his mind.”

 

Kyuhyun’s cheeks warm a little as he pulls a face whilst shoving the male. “Too much information!”

 

“You’re the one with the dirty mind!” Changmin laughs. “Na, I went and got myself trained in working at a camping site near here, and then came back a few months later with a letter glowing with praises of my skills and experience in the outdoors.”

 

“And you did all of that to prove a point?”

 

“And also because Yunho is hot.”

 

Kyuhyun shakes his head, grinning. “Idiot.”

 

Changmin butts his shoulder against his, causing him to stumble. “You have to admit it; shifters have a certain charm to them.”

 

 Kyuhyun feels his face burn at the joke.

 

Just as he’s about to make a smart comment, he feels something drop on his head.

 

Frowning and thinking some bird has just crapped on him, Kyuhyun checks it with his hand to see nothing on it.

 

Glancing up, Kyuhyun feels a drop of water hit his cheek.

 

“Is it starting to-” Changmin begins, confused, and the heavens open to unleash the rain.

 

Kyuhyun yanks his hood up as Changmin does the same. “Which way is back?” he yells as the rain picks up speed.

 

Changmin motions to behind him and Kyuhyun quickly follows him.

 

It’s amazing how quick a wood can change when rain appears. Within a minute, the light is almost gone and it casts a gloomy and depressing mood as Kyuhyun pays close attention to where he’s stepping.

 

The first rumble of thunder has them both freezing.

 

“It’s distant!” Changmin yells. “We’ll be back before it arrives!”

 

Kyuhyun’s panting with the effort of keeping up with Changmin. He’s so focused on keeping his vision clear and watching where he goes, that he fails to miss something obvious.

 

He can’t hear Changmin anymore.

 

Snapping his head up, his hood falls down as another rumble of thunder moves through the dark sky.

 

“Changmin?” He calls out at seeing the male no longer in front of him.

 

Hearing nothing but the sound of the heavy downpour and the sounds of the wood being attacked by it, Kyuhyun begins to feel a familiar fear begin to rise.

 

“Changmin?!” he shouts louder as he hurries in the direction Changmin had been leading him in.

 

At seeing no sign of the male’s red jacket anywhere, Kyuhyun starts to panic.

 

And he starts to run.

 

 


	17. Chapter 17

 

 

 

 

Donghae walks around the new room he’s in. It’s like a hospital room, only, there’s a one-way mirror opposite where he’s standing.

 

Donghae nods at his reflection, knowing Yunho will be behind there.

 

“Is this really necessary?” Donghae calls outs. “You’re only giving me a physical examination to test my temperament. I’m not going to suddenly shred my clothes and shift.”

 

_“Its protocol,”_ Yunho’s voice echoes around the room. “ _Now shut up while I turn some of this off.”_  

 

Donghae smirks at that. “Naughty hyung.”

 

As he takes a seat on the bed, Yunho comes into the room. “Right then, let’s get this over with,” the older shifter says brightly as he grabs a stool and rolls it over to where Donghae’s waiting.

 

“What is this even going to show?” Donghae questions as Yunho gets himself ready. “It’s all in my head.”

 

Yunho slaps his leg for him to shut up complaining. “You’re the one who told me to bring you here, so deal with the rules.”

 

Donghae rolls his eyes. “Can’t you lie?”

 

Yunho grabs his chin and holds him still as he flashes a penlight into his eyes, making Donghae hiss.

 

“I have to do this because of what you are,” Yunho reminds him of his status and type, and Donghae groans, instantly annoyed.

 

“I’m not a threat!” he defends, and Yunho prods him on the nose with the light. “You know I hate special treatment!”

 

“I wouldn’t class this as ‘special’,” Yunho mutters as he writes something down on Donghae’s chart. “Now be quiet and let me work.”

 

Donghae sulks as Yunho messes around with him, doing whatever tests he needs to be done.

 

After an hour, Donghae’s bored to tears. “Can I go now?”

 

“Just one more test,” Yunho mumbles, distracted as he files away Donghae’s blood samples to make sure there’s no irregularities in his blood.

 

Donghae groans loudly, and drops back to lie down on the bed.

 

The click of the intercom has Donghae perking up.

 

_“Yunho, please report to room 004.”_

 

Yunho freezes, eyes on the mirror. “Changmin?”

 

_“Yunho, now.”_

 

Donghae raises an eyebrow at the urgency in the male’s voice, and his eyebrows rise higher as Yunho’s face turns pale.

 

“Stay here,” Yunho orders as he races for the door.

 

“Not like I can leave,” Donghae retorts as Yunho vanishes.

 

Sighing, Donghae flops back down onto the bed.

 

He feels bad that he’s hogging the shifter’s attention when some other poor sod needs it more.

 

He’ll give it another day and then he’ll discharge himself.

 

He has work to do, and people to check on.

 

His mood sours instantly at the reminder that Kyuhyun hasn’t been in touch or that he’s not allowed any contact with people yet.

 

Donghae hates being alone; absolutely detests it.

 

After amusing himself by counting the tiles on the floor, Yunho returns.

 

“How did the-” Donghae begins as the door opens, and promptly freezes at the male’s scent.

 

“Donghae, don’t-”

 

“Why can I smell Kyuhyun on you?” Donghae demands, tone low.

 

Yunho doesn’t answer fast enough and before Donghae knows it, he’s racing for the male standing by the door.

 

As Yunho quickly escapes and Donghae slams into the shut door, he begins to snarl furiously. “Yunho!”

 

_“Take the tablets I gave you earlier,”_ Yunho’s voice comes through the intercom. _“You need to take them.”_

Donghae launches himself at the door, growling now. “Let me out.”

 

_“If you don’t listen to me-”_ Yunho begins to calmly say over Donghae’s growling, but as Donghae launches himself at the door again, the older shifter mumbles something that Donghae doesn’t catch.

 

As Donghae viciously rattles the useless door handle as his entire body shakes with aggression, Yunho’s voice fades away from his mind as all he can focus on is his shifter and his own voice in his head that is demanding answers and to be released.

 

As a wave of pain rolled through him from his body trying to start the first stages of his shift into his other form, he hears a very panicked sound, and dimly registers it as Yunho.

 

Donghae breathes through the pain and fights off the shift, trying to ground himself away from his shifter’s strong presence in his head right now. He needs to contain his anger, to not allow that and his shifter to rule him and force him to break forms.

 

As he sees his shadow grow larger, Donghae shoves away from the door in hunt of those tablets that Yunho had mentioned. As he does that, he ends up stumbling, his legs feeling funny as he falls to the ground.

 

As he hisses at the impact, another wave of pain rushes through him, causing him to bow his spine as he feels his skin tighten, his muscles clamping down hard as he hears his clothes begin to tear.

 

Shaking his head in denial and determination, Donghae yells out as he forces his body to relax, and demands for his shifter to allow him to think.

 

His shifter doesn’t listen, and Donghae’s mind is filled with a word that makes his blood run cold.

 

Donghae doesn’t even have the chance to act; he’s ripped from control of his body once again.

 

As he’s shoved to the back of his subconscious, Donghae can hear the carnage happening around him as his shifter goes about to destroy the room in order to find a way out.

 

Yunho’s voice comes to them again, but Donghae can’t really hear what he’s saying over that word being slammed into him by his shifter as well as the sound of destruction.

 

His shifter rushes to the mirror, and Donghae sees that he’s already in the first stage of shifting into his beast form.

 

Seeing the larger and intimidating build of his human body, Donghae eyed the darkening of his skin colour, the way his skin was tighter and his muscles more defined as his body began to thicken. His shirt was ripped, the material straining as Donghae’s body grew thicker, and he winced as his shifter began to slash and punch the indestructible glass.

 

His finger’s weren’t even fingers now, they were starting to curve into the shape of a claw, his once long fingers now shortened with long nails that were thick and deadly, and black as Donghae’s skin went dark than his normal tanned skin.

 

_“Commencing sedation in 5...”_ Yunho’s emotionless voice began to countdown, and Donghae wanted nothing more than to hide from the reflection of himself as his shifter paused to listen.

 

As Yunho reached to four, his shifter let out a ferocious sound that rattled Donghae’s ears as he watched his face turn.

 

His eyes were vivid amber now, the colour of his beast, and his face was sharper, no longer handsome but terrifying as his teeth changed so that they were starting to resemble canine teeth.

 

_“Three...”_

Donghae felt himself slip back into control, but not fully, as his body naturally began the next stage of his shift, and he fought it, not wanting it, not wanting the pain to come as he stumbles away from the mirror.

 

_They have Kyuhyun!_ His shifter rages, still in partial control with him. _Stop fighting your instinct and find him!_

_“Two....”_

Donghae’s shirt rips off him as his spine snaps him forward, his back singing with agony as he feels his bones begin to break and shift.

 

As he screams out in pain, he catches a new scent in the room.

 

Donghae and his shifter go wild as the sedation works its way into the room, and as Donghae bangs into the wall, his legs give out.

 

He’s panting, growling, and snapping at the air as he feels his limps grow numb.

 

As he’s rendered paralysed, Donghae tries to fight off the pull of unconsciousness; his shifter subdued and silent.

 

_“Just sleep, Hae.”_ Yunho’s soft voice calls through the intercom, and Donghae shakes his head wildly as he’s left alone with his own thoughts and feelings now.

“Kyu...” he pants out quietly, knowing that Yunho may not be able to hear him.

_“Everything will be fine when you wake up,”_ Yunho continues, and Donghae slumps to the floor on his side as the numbness spreads to his face.

 

Donghae loses consciousness with Kyuhyun’s name like a mantra in his mind.

As Donghae falls unconscious, Yunho nods to the men waiting for his signal.

 

As they ease into the room, Yunho watches from the one-way window, his body still tense with fear and worry.

 

He’s never seen Donghae lose control this easily before.

 

As the men inject Donghae’s unconscious form with drugs to force his body to reverse the shift, Yunho hears Changmin return.

 

“Does he consent?” Yunho asks, and clicks a button for the camera hidden in the room to stop recording.

 

Changmin had raced from the observation room the moment Donghae turned aggressive with Yunho’s order to follow.

 

“Of course he consents,” Changmin says as he watches Yunho make a copy of the video. “But I didn’t say anything about how aggressive Donghae is now.”

 

Yunho pauses. “Why?”

 

“You’re the expert,” Changmin retorts. “Kyuhyun said he’ll help in any way he can, but he does have questions.”

 

“Don’t we all,” Yunho mutters as he shuts down the computer as he pockets his data drive.

 

As the men come out of the medical room with Donghae on a stretcher, Yunho tells them to take the male back to his room.

 

Changmin eyes them as they pass him. “I know I’m no expert-”

 

Yunho scoffs to himself, a grin tugging at his lips as they follow after the men.

 

“-but I would say that Donghae is being territorial over Kyuhyun,” Changmin carries on as they move down the corridor.

 

Yunho swallows. “That’s what I think too.”

 

Changmin gives him a hesitant look. “From your tone, I’m guessing that is a big no no?”

 

“Donghae is considered as an alpha in terms of authority within the canine-shifter world, and so it’s acceptable for Donghae to be territorial over things, but it should never be just fixated on one person,” Yunho explains as they move from one area of the clinic and towards the patient rooms. “It’s dangerous for both parties.”

 

Both he and Changmin pause in the crossroads that lead to the treatment area and the rooms. Yunho smiles at a passing doctor before glancing back at Changmin whom has an unreadable expression on his face.

 

“What is it?” Yunho asks, eyeing the younger male.

 

“I’m just thinking of a story I read in one of your journals,” Changmin says slowly.

 

Yunho raises an eyebrow. “Oh?”

 

“The one about mates.”

 

Yunho’s expression clears, and he sighs. “There’s no such thing.”

 

The doors behind them buzz, and both of them move out of the way as a new patient comes from the reception area.

 

“I’m going to check on Kyuhyun,” Changmin excuses himself as the doors shut again. “He needs a friend right now.”

 

Yunho feels a bit warm at hearing that.

 

He nods and turns to watch the male head back to the treatment rooms. “Changmin?”

 

Changmin stops and turns back to look at him, gaze questioning.

 

That warm feeling grows, but Yunho doesn’t know how to word what he wants to say.

 

So he shakes his head and waves the human on.

 

Changmin tuts and leaves him.

 

Yunho doesn’t leave the corridor until he can’t see or hear Changmin anymore. As he heads for Donghae’s room, Yunho fiddles with the data drive in his pocket.

 

His gut twists as he thinks about what was recorded.

 

He hopes that the choice he’s chosen to take in regards of treating Donghae will actually work and not make things worse.

 

 

 


	18. Chapter 18

 

 

 

Kyuhyun winces as he eases his sprained ankle off the bed. Sighing, Kyuhyun grabbed his jacket and rose slowly to leave.

 

After his dramatic adventure in the woods yesterday, Changmin has banned him from going in the woods again.

 

It was quite embarrassing now that he wasn’t scared out of his mind.

 

He had badly sprained his ankle when he was racing around the woods trying to find Changmin. His voice was sore, and his body felt a little bit achy. He probably had caught a chill from being out in the rain. Anyway, the fresh memory of yesterday was causing Kyuhyun severe mortification.

 

Yunho and Changmin were asking questions that Kyuhyun was never going to answer.

 

The questions mainly about the reason for his panic attack.

 

Changmin thinks he knows due to what Kyuhyun had told him about being lost when he was younger, but there was a look in the male’s eyes that told Kyuhyun that he doubted that.

 

Yunho, on the other hand, isn’t stupid. He’s trained in medicine and psychological areas; he knows when he sees someone hiding something traumatic.

 

Not that Kyuhyun’s reason is traumatic....well, not explicitly so.

 

The sound of his phone started to ring and Kyuhyun began to curse as he hopped quickly to the front room in order to answer it in time.

 

“Hello?” he pants, leaning against the window to steady himself.

 

_“Kyuhyun?”_

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t breathe. “Donghae?”

 

Kyuhyun hears a long soft exhale. _“They brought you with me.”_

 

Kyuhyun frowns slightly. “I came of my own free will, Donghae.”

 

 _“We’ll debate that later,”_ Donghae says; voice strangely soft. _“Can you come by later? Yunho wants to see us together or something, he didn’t elaborate why.”_

 

“Not like I have anything better to do,” Kyuhyun says, distracted as he thinks back to Changmin’s anxious arrival to his room yesterday after Yunho had sorted his sprain.

 

A soft laugh. _“I have a good idea what it’s about, but we’ll see.”_

 

Kyuhyun frowns again, this time harder as he watches his reflection. “Oh?”

 

_“He probably wants to analysis us interacting, see how or if I’ve changed due to my lapse of control.”_

Kyuhyun’s guilt of that night returns, but before he can apologise, Donghae’s saying he has to go and for Kyuhyun to come by the clinic after lunch.

As Donghae quickly hangs up, Kyuhyun’s left to his thoughts.

 

He’s going to try his hardest to get answers today.

 

And he’s going to ignore the flutters in his stomach.

 

 

 

Yunho yanks the phone from Donghae’s hand. “How did you get this?!” he demands.

 

Donghae shrugs his shoulders as he relaxes against his headboard. “I just asked for it.”

 

Yunho glares at him. “You do not intimidate my staff, Donghae. That’s against the rules.”

 

Donghae gives Yunho a glare of his own. “Then don’t feed me bullshit about not seeing Kyuhyun and making sure he’s okay.”

 

“I told you to trust me.”

 

Donghae feels his shifter let out a sluggish growl that’s almost pitiful. “Kyuhyun’s stopping by after lunch,” he announces, and finds the brief look of panic interesting.

 

“We shouldn’t rush-” Yunho begins to make up an excuse, but Donghae cuts him off.

 

“I have not once hurt Kyuhyun,” he reminds the shifter, tone annoyed. “I didn’t even hurt him when I was starting to shift into my beast form.”

 

Yunho shifts slightly. “Things are different now.”

 

“How?” Donghae challenges.

 

Yunho gives him a look that had Donghae’s gut twisting.

 

“What?” Donghae demands. “What is it?”

 

“You’re showing signs of attachment,” Yunho says softly.

 

Donghae blinks at him. “Attachment?”

 

“Your behaviour has changed; it’s no longer a protective impulse towards Kyuhyun, it’s more of a possessive and territorial attachment you’ve started to develop.” Yunho explains further, and Donghae’s skin turns cold as he’s reminded of that word that his shifter unexpectedly began to chant in his mind.

 

Donghae keeps a clear face. “Is this because of my episode yesterday?”

 

Yunho pulls a face. “And also what happened at yours...”

 

Donghae nods and hums a little. “I think you’re wrong.”

 

Yunho raises an eyebrow. “Oh?”

 

“Both times I’ve been brought to the end of my control due to Kyuhyun being bothered or possibly in trouble by something,” Donghae explains, completely making it up as he goes. “That night at mine, he had refused to tell me what’s been bugging him and causing him distress and anger, and then yesterday I smelt that he’s here and that the lad who had come to get you was panicked. I reacted to that because – again - I thought he was in trouble.”

 

Yunho’s expression wavers and Donghae is almost proud of himself. Even he believes what he’s said.

 

“So you think you’re still protective?” Yunho questions, tone neutral.

 

Donghae shrugs. “Seems that way. I see him part of my group now; he has to be because he knows too much.”

 

Yunho waves the phone at him. “Don’t do this again.”

 

Donghae eyes the shifter as Yunho abruptly changes the subject. “Don’t keep me locked up like an uncontrollable animal.”

 

A knock at his door has Yunho turning around, and as a nurse asks for Yunho to join her for a consultation, Donghae tries to prod his shifter into a better focused state.

 

The drugs in his system weren’t affecting him, only his shifter, just like Yunho had promised all those weeks ago.

 

As Yunho excused himself, Donghae finally allowed himself to react to Yunho’s opinion on what was causing him to lose control so easily now.

 

If what the male was saying is true, then they would have to remove Kyuhyun from his life. An attachment – a possessive one at that – is far too dangerous to have connected to a shifter, even more so with Kyuhyun being a human; it would result in Donghae constantly losing the ability to function well in human society because of the possessiveness.

 

A possessive shifter of his status and breed would result in constant aggression, and he would both smother and isolate Kyuhyun to satisfy himself. Once he does this to Kyuhyun, Donghae would be too focused on the vet in order to function. His business would suffer, his ‘pack’ would flee from him, and he would be left alone with Kyuhyun, who would probably be one of those fleeing him, and if that ever happened, Donghae may result in harming him in order to keep him.

 

He’s been warned of attachments before, but when he was younger. It’s something that needs to be tackled and treated carefully in the shifter world because attachment is a serious condition that often results in bad ends, and also it’s seen as something of a weak link by others.

 

If you’re attached to something, you’re distracted. You and your shifter aren’t focused, too busy thinking of the thing that you’re attached to.

 

Donghae feels a rumble come from his shifter at his thoughts and feels it in his chest, and he knows.

 

He knows the truth.

 

He’s known for a while.

 

 _We can pretend,_ his shifter weakly says to him as Donghae feels his barriers come down a little.

Donghae knows he sees Kyuhyun as something more to protect. His shifter’s obsession over the vet had gradually made it so that Donghae became a little obsessed. He could watch the human for hours and learn something new with every passing hour. The fact that Kyuhyun’s scent only causes him to react differently to those who have encountered Kyuhyun, it makes Donghae feel two things: frustrated and also curious.

 

At the very beginning, Donghae had hated this tug of attraction and attention to the vet, but because of Kyuhyun being around him almost constantly now and how he’s gotten used to Kyuhyun’s alluring scent, it makes Donghae anxious when he hasn’t been able to see or catch Kyuhyun’s scent for a while.

 

His anxiousness causes his brain and shifter to react faster, analysing every little thing Kyuhyun does to ensure and comfort himself that the vet is fine. So when Kyuhyun had began to become distressed and angry, polluting his scent and emotions, Donghae immediately became distressed and anxious to help, to comfort him.

 

But when Kyuhyun denied him and pushed his concern away, his shifter was the first to take offense and needed to put Kyuhyun into a position of understanding that the human was going to be looked after by them, whether he understood it or not.

 

Kyuhyun was stuck with them in his life, and his shifter took great glee in that fact and it had fuelled Donghae’s shift that night in his living room.

 

But when he saw the fear in Kyuhyun’s face and the scent of it registered, Donghae had took control of his shifter and forced them both to cement the human’s reaction to them in his mind. Kyuhyun was terrified of them still, still fresh and uneducated of their world.

 

Donghae felt like a brute and had wanted to comfort Kyuhyun, but then Kyuhyun tensed up at the racket Yunho and Siwon had been making, and both he and his shifter reacted without thinking; to protect Kyuhyun.

 

But along with that need came the overwhelming one to harm those who had caused Kyuhyun to react like that, and that was then when it all clicked in Donghae’s mind.

 

That was why he asked Yunho to subdue him. He would have attacked them both otherwise.

 

Sitting alone in his room with his shifter shackled, Donghae couldn’t deny it anymore, nor live in the denial himself.

 

He was attached to Kyuhyun. Not just solely his shifter, but him too. And since Donghae is the dominant one, he could no longer use his shifter as an excuse for his actions. Donghae couldn’t hide and sit back anymore, yesterday was proof of that. No, he needs to acknowledge it himself, and control himself and keep his shifter balanced again.

 

 _Kyuhyun,_ his shifter groans softly. _We’re not letting him go._

 

The rush of emotion that floods Donghae’s chest at that thought makes him stiffen, breathing halted.

 

“Not yet,” he promises softly. “Keep to your side, and we won’t lose him.”

 

A roll of consent and comfort blankets the emotion locked in his chest. His shifter lets out a soft noise and goes completely silent in his mind and focus.

 

At the new and unfamiliar emptiness in his mind, Donghae begins to make a plan.

 

 

 

Kyuhyun feels like he’s visiting a criminal.

 

“Are we seriously being watched?” Kyuhyun mutters and Donghae lets out a snort.

 

“Rules,” the shifter states, and Kyuhyun subtly eyes the one-way mirror.

 

“We’re only talking,” Kyuhyun says, confused. “Do they really think you’re unstable?”

 

Donghae raises an eyebrow in amusement. “Well, I’m not cuffed.”

 

Kyuhyun hums. “I guess you need to be ripping off your clothes in order to get to that status?”

 

Donghae’s cheek twitches and Kyuhyun assumes it to be in amusement as the shifter looks over at the mirror.

 

“You would think so,” Donghae says as he stares at their reflection.

 

Kyuhyun tenses a little. “What’s wrong?”

 

“I’m just waiting for Yunho to tell us what he’s hoping to avoid or gain.”

 

Kyuhyun looks at their reflection too.

 

He catches Donghae watching him and instantly his body goes warm, his cheeks heating quickly as Kyuhyun avoids the shifter’s eyes.

 

The awkward atmosphere in the room grew.

 

This wasn’t what he had been expecting. He just assumed the meeting would be in a relaxed and informal way, nothing like this stiff and formal atmosphere. It was this type of atmosphere that reminded Kyuhyun that he and Donghae weren’t very close, they had just started to get friendly and used to each other before Donghae lost control.

 

Kyuhyun bites his lip at the reminder. He wonders if he’s allowed to ask about that yet.

 

“What’s up?” Donghae’s curious voice causes Kyuhyun to jolt, his teeth digging deeper into his lip at the unexpected question.

 

As he winces and licks his lip to check for bleeding, he sees Donghae shift a little and looks over at him.

 

The male is just sitting up straighter, eyes locked on Kyuhyun.

 

“Nothing?” Kyuhyun says, cheeks warming up again under Donghae’s strong stare.

 

Donghae makes a tutting sound. “Liar.”

 

Kyuhyun glances at the mirror again.

 

“Ignore that,” Donghae tells him, “if you have something you want to say, then just say it.”

 

Kyuhyun fidgets in his seat, being careful to avoid moving his ankle. He had arrived first, so he was already sitting when Donghae arrived in the room. He probably doesn’t even know what happened to Kyuhyun yesterday or the fact he had stupidly injured himself.

 

“Kyuhyun...”

 

Kyuhyun realises he had accidently ignored Donghae, and as he jerked again, the shifter’s eyes darkened a little, probably in annoyance.

 

“I don’t want to anger you again,” Kyuhyun rushes out under the stare.

 

Donghae’s eyebrows furrow slightly. “What?”

 

“If I mention that night....” Kyuhyun begins, and a look of understanding crosses Donghae’s face, allowing him to find the guts to begin talking about it, “I just want to apologise for making you snap.”

 

“You didn’t make me snap,” Donghae assures him softly.

 

Kyuhyun shakes his head, unwilling to allow the older male to excuse his behaviour. “You and everyone else has warned me not to anger you, but I was so in a mood with myself that I just-”

 

Kyuhyun breaks off as Donghae reaches out to him, jerking back and hissing softly as he whacks his ankle off his chair leg.

 

Donghae pulls back, but Kyuhyun doesn’t miss the tightness in the male’s cheek as he links his fingers together in front of him.

 

“Why were you in a mood?” Donghae asks, curious as Kyuhyun discreetly tries to ignore the throbbing of pain coming from his ankle.

 

As he tells Donghae the condensed version of what’s happening with the vet practice, and   when he welcomed his parents home, Kyuhyun feels himself relax, the stiffness from the uncomfortable arrangement leaving his mind as Donghae listens, frowning hard at the news of what his boss has done, but more so about his father.

 

“So that’s what you were looking at,” Donghae murmurs as he leans back in his chair and Kyuhyun nods.

 

“Not that it’s really much help,” he grumbles. “She had made sure to be as vague as she could when it came to giving her information when they admitted her.”

 

 Donghae hums, thinking. “I could see if I could find her?”

 

Kyuhyun blinks at him. “How?”

 

Donghae gives him a look. “I have friends in all sorts of places,” he teases.

 

Kyuhyun feels his cheeks warm at that.

 

“I need to have another look at it anyway,” Kyuhyun says as he tries to ignore his warming face, shaking his head a little. “I may have missed something.”

 

“Well the offer is always on the table,” he says as he starts to stretch.

 

“You’ve done enough for me though,” Kyuhyun says as he watches the shifter, cringing a little at the sounds of the male’s joints cracking.

 

Donghae shrugs. “I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t care.”

 

Kyuhyun’s heart stutters at the admission, and Kyuhyun forces himself to get a grip as he hides his hands under the table so that they could squeeze the bottom of his jacket to relieve some of the tension building in him.

 

Looking down at his hands, Kyuhyun wonders if he should take the opening the male has offered him.

 

He jumped as Donghae leaned a little across the table, demanding his attention with a playful smirk. “Your emotions are all over the place, Kyu,” the male teases again.

 

Kyuhyun feels his whole body burn this time. He forgot about that. “Y-you-”

 

Kyuhyun freezes, mouth gaping a little as Donghae abruptly stands, his chair almost falling as he grabs the small table between them and lifts it slightly so that he could move it out of the way. Whilst the shifter’s back is to him, Kyuhyun sends a look at the mirrored glass, expecting an alarm to blare at Donghae’s actions.

 

Kyuhyun finds himself stunned as nothing happens, and Donghae laughs at his expression as he grabs his chair plops it closer in front of Kyuhyun. “Relax,” he says as he sits down again.

 

“Why?” Kyuhyun demands, the only thing coming to his head as Donghae reclines more comfortably in his seat.

 

“It was too awkward,” Donghae smiles, and Kyuhyun finds himself nodding, too caught up in the male’s eye-smile.

 

“You’re really not yourself today,” he hears Donghae comment lightly, head tilting as he regards Kyuhyun.

 

Kyuhyun wants to put some more distance between them now that he’s able to pick up the male’s comforting earthy musk.

 

Kyuhyun finds himself looking closely at the male’s body, reminded of how it had started to change that night.

 

“You have another form, don’t you?” Kyuhyun spits out over whatever Donghae had been saying whilst he spaced out.

 

The question surprises Donghae, his brown eyes startled. “What?”

 

“You said you have your canine form...but you have another, right?”

 

For the first time during this meeting, Donghae looks hesitant.

 

Kyuhyun nods, expecting it. “What else are you holding back?”

 

“Kyuhyun,” Donghae begins hesitantly, but Kyuhyun cuts over him again, his frustration of being kept in the dark finally coming to the surface.

 

“You didn’t tell me that the shifter who attacked me is now dead,” Kyuhyun says slowly, watching the shifter carefully. “Why not?”

 

Donghae’s eyes darken, face tightening. “Who told-”

 

“Why not?” Kyuhyun demands again, tone rising. “Why did _you_ not tell me?”

 

“I was going to!” Donghae defends himself, reacting to Kyuhyun’s frustration.

 

Kyuhyun scoffs at the answer, giving the shifter a look. “Stop lying to me, Donghae, and just be honest with me.”

 

Donghae looks away from him, his jaw working hard as he takes in a deep breath.

 

After a full minute of silence from the shifter, Kyuhyun leans back against his seat, shaking his head. “You-”

 

“I killed him.”

 

Kyuhyun’s mouth clamps shut as a cold shiver ran through his body at Donghae’s words.

 

Turning to look at him again, Donghae’s expression is disinterested. “He was watching us that night at yours,” the shifter explains.

 

Kyuhyun’s heart picks up speed at that, his chest tight with the spike of fear. He didn’t see anyone! He had been so cautious that night as well, double checking every time he looked out of the window.

 

Kyuhyun stays silent, both of them watching each other.

 

“When?” Kyuhyun asks. “You were with me the entire time.”

 

“When you went back inside and I went to the car.”

 

A chill rushes over his skin. “You...you killed him then?” Kyuhyun repeats. “In that short space of time?”

 

Donghae nods, not going into any deeper detail.

 

Kyuhyun looks away, eyes drawn the mirror as he tries to organise his thoughts and emotions.

 

“You’re not upset,” Donghae comments, curious, and Kyuhyun gives him a filthy look at the reminder of his ability.

 

“I don’t know what I feel!” Kyuhyun hisses.

 

Donghae leans close, eyes focused on him. “Yes you do.”

 

Kyuhyun shakes his head, denying it.

 

Donghae’s eyes grow darker. “You’re angry, but not for the reason you want to be.”

 

“You _killed_ someone, Donghae,” Kyuhyun hisses.

 

“I killed a _shifter_ ,” Donghae corrects, tone reprimanding. “I’ve done it before and I’ll probably do it again.”

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t even flinch at that. “Why are you doing this?”

 

“Doing what?”

 

“Making yourself out to be some type of monster,” Kyuhyun argues. “Are you wanting me to fear you?”

 

Donghae raises an eyebrow at him. “You told me to be honest.”

 

Kyuhyun takes a deep breath, controlling the waves of emotions assaulting him.

 

A click sounds and then Yunho’s calm voice enters, _“Time is up. Donghae, please head to the door for collection.”_

 

“Not yet,” Kyuhyun growls out, a hand reaching out to stop the shifter from moving. “I have one more question for you.”

 

_“Kyuhyun, release him.”_

 

Donghae waits for him, both of them ignoring Yunho.

 

“If it wasn’t my fault that caused you to snap, then what is the cause?” Kyuhyun demands.

 

Donghae looks down at the hand Kyuhyun is using to keep him seated, but he doesn’t remove it.

 

“I can’t answer that right now,” Donghae tells him softly, and when he looks back up Kyuhyun freezes at the split second of amber being chased away from his eyes.

 

“Liar,” Kyuhyun whispers, and yanks his hand back.

 

Ignoring the look on the shifter’s face, Kyuhyun makes yet another stupid mistake.

 

He stands up.

 

As soon as he’s upright, his ankle buckles, plain flooring him and making him gasp as he stumbles.

 

Donghae catches his elbow, steadying him as the door opens. “What’s wrong?” the shifter demands and Kyuhyun’s shocked at tone.

 

Yunho comes over to him slowly, backed by two other men. “He just injured himself, that’s all,” he says Kyuhyun grits his teeth, breathing hard from the pain.

 

“And you-”

 

“It doesn’t concern you!” Kyuhyun snaps at Donghae, trying to pull his elbow free.

 

Time seems to slow as amber floods the shifter’s eyes, his grip tightening.

 

“Donghae!”

 

Kyuhyun gasps again as he roughly shoved away from Donghae and into Yunho’s panicked hold.

 

“Get out,” Donghae hisses to them, as he shoves himself into a corner. “Get out!”

 

Kyuhyun sees again, for the second time, Donghae’s body begin to change as he watches Kyuhyun being hurriedly led from the room.

 

As the other assistant locks the door behind them, Kyuhyun shrugs out of Yunho’s hold to hobble to the window, to watch Donghae.

 

“Why is he doing this?” Kyuhyun demands as Donghae forces himself to remain in the corner of the room, his eyes focused on the mirror as if he knows Kyuhyun’s watching him.

 

“Because he’s attached to you.”

 

Kyuhyun’s spin stiffens as Yunho comes to stand beside him, watching Donghae calm down. “He’s formed an unhealthy attachment towards you,” the shifter says gently.

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t speak, the seconds dragging into minutes as he watches Donghae.

 

“I want no more bullshit,” Kyuhyun murmurs quietly, seeing Yunho look at him from out of the corner of his eye. “You’re going to tell me everything.”

 

Yunho nods.

 

Kyuhyun looks away from Donghae.

 

And turns his back on him.

 

 


	19. Chapter 19

 

 

 

 

Sitting alone in his cabin, Kyuhyun watches the rain continue to fall from the window overlooking the facility.

 

It’s only been a few hours since his talk Yunho, and Kyuhyun’s head was still slightly blank, body numb.

 

To finally know of the reason of Donghae’s behaviour towards him should make him relieved, but it doesn’t. If anything, it’s made him feel conflicted.

 

Yunho explained that attachments within the shifter world are something that can’t be indulged in; it’s too dangerous.

 

Once Kyuhyun had heard that word ‘dangerous’ he stopped feeling.

 

As the shifter went on further to explain how an attachment would cause a shifter to change, Kyuhyun’s skin crawled as he accurately described Donghae’s transition since the first time he met the older male.

 

Yunho had made his point clear on how they were going to treat Donghae; they were going to remove Kyuhyun from his life.

 

Not straightaway at least, but to wean the shifter off Kyuhyun so that he didn’t react to the abrupt change.

 

Kyuhyun was given the chance to consent to the new findings, if he still wanted to help he could but if he didn’t then he was to leave tonight so that Yunho and his team could shut down the facility in preparation to deal with Donghae’s reaction.

 

Looking at his bag by the door, Kyuhyun rested his head against the window as he stared at it.

 

Donghae had saved his life, and his sister’s.

 

Kyuhyun moved off the chair and made his way to the bag.

 

He saved them twice.

 

Kyuhyun picks up the bag and turns towards the door.

 

He eased Kyuhyun into his world when he could have left him to fend for himself, to live in fear.

 

He locks the door.

 

Of course he was staying.

 

Kyuhyun owes him his life.

 

 

 

Donghae fucked up.

 

Rocking slightly in the corner of his room, feeling his shifter voice its anguish as much as it can from the double dose of sedation Yunho has given him to control it, Donghae nearly ripped his hair out in frustration.

 

He was doing so well! He had been calm, collected being so close to Kyuhyun, but as soon as the male stood and Donghae saw and felt his pain, he had reacted instinctively, mind shutting down and his shifter leading.

 

It was only when he realised he was about to shift, he managed to push his emotions and get him away from Kyuhyun.

 

He could still see the look in the human’s eyes, and it just caused him to whine in remorse even more.

 

He had scared him, yet again.

 

Hearing the sound of someone approaching, he stops his rocking, face hidden from his hair as he looks down at his knees.

 

As his door unlocks, he catches Yunho’s scent.

 

“How did you sleep?” Yunho asks softly as he enters the room, door shutting behind him.

 

“I didn’t.” Donghae continues to look down, unable to bring himself to look at the male.

 

“Donghae-”

   
“I know...” Donghae whispers, chest tight. “I know, Yunho.”

 

“Would you like to speak to him?” Yunho asks, and Donghae glances up at him in surprise.

 

“What?” Donghae questions as he watches Yunho.

 

Yunho produces a phone from his pocket. “Kyuhyun,” he says as Donghae continues to stare. “Would you like to talk to him?”

 

Donghae’s body goes to move, but he forces himself to stay.

 

He presses against the wall and shakes his head.

 

“You sure?” Yunho questions, tone light.

 

Donghae grounds his teeth together, ignoring his shifter. It was for the best. “I’m sure.”

 

Yunho pockets the device again. “I’ll have breakfast brought to you, but do try to get some sleep afterwards, Hae.”

 

Donghae nods and the shifter leaves.

 

The second the lock clicks home, Donghae releases himself, and he starts to shake.

 

Donghae’s mind rattles from his shifter’s rage and his own emotions of what this means.

 

He needs to do this.

 

He needs to do this for Kyuhyun.

 

For his safety.

 

 

 

“He’s okay?” Kyuhyun questions, trying to pace, but ends up hopping on the spot as he listens.

 

_“He’s been sleeping all day,”_ Yunho tells him.

 

“Is he okay?” Kyuhyun says again, tone demanding.

 

Yunho sighs. _“Physically he is, but his mind? I don’t know. I just know he’s already trying to separate himself from you.”_

 

Kyuhyun swallows at that. “You said-”

 

_“I assumed he would fight the mere idea of you being removed from his life,”_ Yunho cuts in. _“So far, it is too early to really say.”_

 

Kyuhyun stops hopping. “So....I’m not needed, am I?”

 

Yunho’s delay answers his question. “I’ll leave tonight,” Kyuhyun says, tone almost clipped with emotion.

 

_“Stay.”_

 

Kyuhyun raises an eyebrow at that. “Why?”

 

_“Because I’ve seen this before in others,”_ Yunho tells him. _“He thinks he can control it by himself, but most cave after a few hours of being completely bare of contact with their attachment. We don’t know how Donghae will cope a full day without having no contact or physical reminder of you.”_

 

“Fine,” Kyuhyun sighs, suddenly tired. “I’ll stay.”

 

As they hang up, Kyuhyun sags onto his bed.

 

He didn’t know if he felt relieved Donghae was willing to help himself, or upset that the shifter is desperate to remove Kyuhyun from his life.

 

Kyuhyun ignores the way his chest aches at that thought.

 

He promised not to get attached himself.

 

Looks like both of them need help and self control.

 

 

 

Donghae didn’t last the night.

 

Kyuhyun got the phone call at 3am from a tired Yunho.

 

Once Yunho told him the plan of action for the next day, Kyuhyun couldn’t go back to sleep.

 

Knowing that Donghae was trashing his room, demanding answers concerning Kyuhyun’s whereabouts and ignoring Yunho’s calm demands, he couldn’t sleep knowing this.

 

Rolling over and picking up the hands-free phone, Kyuhyun typed in the number Yunho had given him for tomorrow.

 

_“Hello?”_

 

“Put me through to him,” Kyuhyun instructs the stranger.

 

_“Yunho hasn’t-”_

 

“Yunho has told me to calm him down,” Kyuhyun lies as he cuts over the male. “Put me through to Donghae.”

 

Hearing the click, Kyuhyun briefly thought the male had hung up on him. But when he heard the sound of Donghae snarling, Kyuhyun’s heart began to race as he listened.

 

_“Yunho, I swear to god if you don’t tell me where-”_

 

“You’re keeping people awake,” Kyuhyun smartly cuts over the male, causing Donghae to inhale a sharp intake of air.

 

_“Kyuhyun?”_

 

“The one and only.”

 

_“Are you outside the room?”_ Donghae demands and he hears the sound of him moving.

 

“It’s 3am, of course not,” Kyuhyun sarcastically says.

 

_“...this is a phone call?”_

 

“Hmm,” Kyuhyun hums as he lies on his back, looking up at his ceiling. “Now, you know how I told you about my boss?”

 

_“Yeah?”_ Donghae hesitantly says, but Kyuhyun can hear that he isn’t moving around anymore.

 

“Do you think I could get one of your cronies to make him change his mind?” Kyuhyun asks, joking only a little bit.

 

_“You want to threaten him?”_ Donghae repeats slowly, and Kyuhyun can almost picture the male’s confused face.

 

He grins. “Only a little.”

 

He hears Donghae snort softly. _“I’ll see what I can do.”_

 

“And in return, I’ll call you again at a suitable time,” Kyuhyun cheekily says, drawing a laugh from Donghae.

 

_“How kind,”_ the shifter teases.

 

Kyuhyun’s grin falls to a soft smile as he feels himself relax. “I know.”

 

Donghae laughs again, the sound of it just as relaxed compared to how demanding he was a minute or so ago.

 

_“How’s the ankle?”_ Donghae asks softly, and Kyuhyun carefully tests it.

 

“Aching still,” he admits.

 

_“You should stay off it.”_

 

“I am,” Kyuhyun assures. “Doctor’s orders.”

 

_“And now mine.”_

 

Kyuhyun swallows a wave roll of...something flows through him at that. Whatever it is, it makes him feel warm and twitchy.

 

“So bossy,” Kyuhyun retorts back, but there’s no heat to it, only softness.

 

_“Only when I need to be,”_ Donghae says back, and he hears the sound of a bed creaking.

 

“What are you doing?” Kyuhyun asks as he strains to listen and picture what the shifter is doing.

 

_“Lying down,”_ Donghae tells him. _“You?”_

 

Kyuhyun rolls his eyes. “What do you think?”

_“Have you had that dream again?”_

 

Kyuhyun tries to hide his reaction, he does, but he still lets out a startled intake of air.

 

_“Kyuhyun?”_ Donghae calls, tone creeping deeper at the sound of his reaction.

 

“Yes,” he admits since there is no use in lying about it now.

 

_“You shouldn’t-”_

 

“It’s just a dream,” he cuts over the male. “It can’t hurt me.”

_“No, but it upsets you,”_ Donghae growls, and Kyuhyun wants to curse as the male gets riled up again.

 

“Donghae, it’s nothing,” he stresses, getting annoyed a little.

_“Then tell me what it’s about if it’s ‘nothing’.”_

 

Kyuhyun’s mouth clamps shut.

 

Donghae snarls a little at his silence.

 

Just listening to each other breathe, with the odd impatient snarl from Donghae, Kyuhyun shuts his eyes tightly, stomach twisting.

 

“It’s just a dream from when I was twelve,” Kyuhyun says unwillingly. “It’s nothing to be worried about.”

_“The fact that it upsets you and causes you to be scared, that makes me worried, Kyuhyun,”_ Donghae chides him. _“A nightmare-”_

 

“It’s not a nightmare!” Kyuhyun argues, a sense of déjà vu coming over him. “It’s just something I rather not remember!”

 

_“Why do you not want to remember it?”_ Donghae presses. _“What happened that a simple memory haunts you?”_

 

Kyuhyun’s going to end up smashing this phone due to all the interfering questions. “Drop it,” Kyuhyun warns.

 

Donghae growls at his tone. _“It’s okay for you to know about my life, but as soon as I start to question yours, you close up,”_ the shifter states, and Kyuhyun flushes at the statement.

 

“You dragged me into this world!” Kyuhyun argues back, sitting up in bed now. “You had to tell me!”

 

_“And since you’re part of my world you need to tell me about you and your past so I can protect or help you in the future!”_

 

“Says you,” Kyuhyun hisses. “You’ve done your fair share of hiding stuff.”

 

_“I am not arguing with you,”_ Donghae breathes out heavily, the sound of his anger back. _“All I want is for you to let me in.”_

 

Kyuhyun starts to shake, emotions flooring him, riling him up. “You’re already too far in!” he snaps out, not really paying attention as he struggles.

 

It’s only when his brain helpfully echoes the words back to them that Kyuhyun’s anger drains from him.

 

_“What is that meant to mean?”_ Donghae snarls, and Kyuhyun winces at the hurt he hears behind the anger.

 

He took it in the wrong way than Kyuhyun had meant.

 

He had meant how far the shifter had managed to get inside Kyuhyun’s head...and feelings.

 

“Nothing,” he sighs, drained. “I meant nothing by it, Donghae. I just said it.”

 

As he listens to Donghae calm, Kyuhyun lies back down, trying to curb his own emotions.

 

He wished he never called now.

 

_“Kyuhyun?”_ Donghae calls softly after a few minutes of silence.

 

Kyuhyun hums back.

 

_“I just want us to become close, friends.”_ the shifter softly speaks, and it tugs at Kyuhyun’s heart.

 

“Me too,” he forces out, swallowing hard.

 

_“So friends share stories, memories,”_ Donghae continues softly, nudging Kyuhyun into a corner with his words.

 

Kyuhyun sighs softly. “Okay. I’ll tell you.”

 

As he tells Donghae of his time of getting lost in the woods, the shifter listens, never once interrupting him.

 

_“But you were found, right?”_ Donghae questions curiously as Kyuhyun stops.

 

Kyuhyun swallows. “Yeah.”

 

_“Was it by your father?”_

 

_Nope_ , Kyuhyun thinks to himself as the memory starts to try and play.

 

“I found him,” Kyuhyun quietly says as the memory plays.

 

_“How?”_

_Kyuhyun wakes up to the sound of sniffing._

_Confused about why his sister’s dog is in his room, he jerks his leg away to stop it._

_Kyuhyun jerks awake._

_He’s not at home._

_He’s lost in the woods._

_He swallows as pure hot fear races through him at hearing a low growl._

_Lifting his head up from where he had slumped over in his exhaustion, Kyuhyun sees the glisten of eyes staring back at him from the darkness._

_Only, they weren’t any colour he’s seen on an animal before._

_They were amber._

_He starts to scream just as that thing’s eyes narrow and he feels the ground shift with its weight as it moves forwards._

Kyuhyun’s shaking as he stops telling his memory to Donghae. “I can’t remember much after that, it’s all scraps of memory destroyed from fear. But I do know that I end up finding my father again, just not sure how.”

 

Donghae’s silent, so silent that Kyuhyun has to check to make sure the call is still live.

 

“Donghae?”

 

_“You should go to sleep,”_ Donghae softly coaxes. _“I shouldn’t have made you stay up any longer.”_

 

Kyuhyun frowns. “I won’t be able to sleep now, not with it still fresh.”

 

_“I’m sorry,”_ Donghae apologises, and the sincerity behind the male’s words causes Kyuhyun to blink, stunned.

 

“You-”

 

_“I have every reason to apologise,”_ Donghae assures him fiercely. _“So please just accept it.”_

 

Kyuhyun does so, even more confused. “Donghae-”

 

_“You should hang up before Yunho comes and does it for you,”_ Donghae says, and Kyuhyun frowns harder at the male’s attempts to stop talking to him.

 

“Okay...” he says slowly, hesitantly. “I’ll call later?”

 

_“Sure,”_ Donghae says gently. _“Just get some sleep, Kyuhyun.”_

 

As Kyuhyun hangs up, his mind is scrambling.

 

Why the abrupt change?

 

 

 

Over the next three days, they begin the process of weaning Donghae off Kyuhyun.

 

Kyuhyun was to remain in his cabin, meaning they were only to converse through phone calls as Yunho started his treatment with Donghae to make sure that his shifter was stable and that Donghae was going through the lessons of how to keep them both stable, something he had learned when he was younger.

 

“It’s not that bad,” Kyuhyun says as he looks out over the clinic.

 

_“You try seeing these four walls every day,”_ Donghae grumbles. _“I’m needed at work, but no, I’m stuck here.”_

 

Kyuhyun rolls his eyes at the male’s whining. “Then stop complaining and work harder.”

 

_“I am!”_

 

Kyuhyun scoffs. “Whatever,” he says playfully.

 

“Why can’t you come and visit me yet?” Donghae mumbles, and Kyuhyun swallows at the question.

 

It’s not the first time the male has asked.

 

“I’m needed at work,” Kyuhyun says again, the lie sounding like a fact now due to the amount of times he’s said it. “I’ll try and come in a few days.”

 

_“I thought he gave you time off_?”

 

“He did. But it’s not fair on the other vet to cover my shifts as well as her own,” Kyuhyun tells him gently.

 

Hearing Donghae sigh, it just twists Kyuhyun’s gut with guilt.

 

_“How much longer of your break is there?”_ Donghae asks, the grumble still there.

 

“I have five minutes left,” Kyuhyun lies, resting his head against the window, eyes locked on the clinic.

 

Kyuhyun knows that these twenty minute calls to the male is causing him to become harder to work with, Yunho’s already briefed him on that. Kyuhyun had suggested for them to allow him to call more than three times a day and Yunho shut that suggestion down.

 

They can’t give into Donghae’s demands to interact with Kyuhyun more, they need to get him to deal with the distance and the limited time. It was all part of the process, and it will only lessen as the time passes until Kyuhyun won’t contact him ever again.

 

Knowing that, sometime in the very near future, he and Donghae will be forced to part and become strangers, it makes it harder for Kyuhyun to willingly share his stories with the shifter, even more so when Donghae does it easily back.

 

He doesn’t know that Kyuhyun knows of his attachment, and it’s to remain that way.

 

Hanging up on a reluctant Donghae, Kyuhyun curls himself tighter into a ball against the window as light rain starts to fall again.

 

Seeing a red coat come up the hill, Kyuhyun smiles as he watches Changmin head towards his cabin.

 

Thank god he has Changmin to keep him company up here.

 

 

 

“If you want,” Changmin says later that evening, both of them lounging on the sofas with their bellies full of their dinner. “I could twist Yunho’s arm to allow you to help me?”

 

Kyuhyun scoffs. “You warned me off from entering the forest again,” he reminds him.

 

“You can look after the animals that live on the property?” Changmin suggests, and Kyuhyun looks over at him at that.

 

“You have animals here?” he questions curiously.

 

Changmin nods. “We get a few injured birds, you know the sort that roams the forests.”

 

Kyuhyun thinks about. “I guess,” he says.

 

“I’ll ring him now.”

 

Kyuhyun shakes his head as Changmin squirms to get his phone, but both of them stiffen when there is a knock at the front door.

 

“Expecting someone?” They both ask at the same time, and Changmin frowns as he gets up, eye on the door.

 

Kyuhyun relaxes as the sound of Yunho calling from behind comes, making Changmin hurry to unlock the door and let him in.

 

“Late night, huh?” Yunho says as he greets Changmin, the rain loud as Changmin hurries to shut the door.

 

“You’ve seen what it’s like,” Changmin sniffs as he comes over to sit next to Kyuhyun. “I’m waiting for it to die down.”

 

Yunho shakes his head as he hangs up his coat. “I came to check how your ankle is.”

 

Kyuhyun rotates it as the male approaches him. “Feels fine.”

 

“I’ll be the judge of that,” the older shifter teases as he crouches down and starts checking Kyuhyun’s ankle. “How are you doing up here?”

 

Kyuhyun sighs. “Bored,” he tells him, and Yunho sighs too.

 

“I would send you back, but-”

 

“You need me here in case things go wrong,” Kyuhyun finishes.

 

“Since he’s bored,” Changmin begins before Yunho can speak, drawing his attention. “How about we make use of his services?”

 

Yunho’s eyes immediately narrow. “We need to keep him away from the-”

 

“Where I work, he will be,” Changmin cuts over, and Kyuhyun watches them both, hoping. “I’m only the groundskeeper, not a vet.”

 

“Changmin mentioned he has an injured bird he found today,” Kyuhyun says, remembering what the male had told him earlier. “It needs to be looked at.”

 

Yunho sighs heavily as he puts Kyuhyun’s ankle down. “Your ankle is fine,” he mutters.

 

“Yunho-” Changmin goes to continue arguing their point but stops at Yunho’s look.

 

“You make sure you don’t interact with anyone from inside the clinic,” Yunho warns them, and both nod. “We can’t afford to have your scent brought near Donghae yet.”

 

“Then why are you here?” Kyuhyun asks.

 

“Because I’m leaving for the city for a few days,” the male says carefully, and Kyuhyun gapes at him. “Donghae will be fine,” he assures him.

 

“So why can you leave – the professional,” Kyuhyun argues, “but not me?”

 

“Because Donghae at the moment is receiving treatment from another colleague of mine, to get him to remember the basics of controlling your shifter,” Yunho explains. “I will be back long before we move onto the next phase of weaning further contact with you from him.”

 

“So really I didn’t need to ask you,” Changmin jokes and Yunho rolls his eyes.

 

“Just be careful,” he warns. “Donghae had a breakthrough an hour ago, so the progress is going well.”

 

Kyuhyun nods, understanding. “I’ll be careful.”

 

As Yunho stands to leave, he glances at the table. “Who’s medical file-”

 

 “It’s my birth mother’s,” Kyuhyun explains, already bored of the topic from having explained it to Changmin. “I’m trying to find her.”

 

Yunho looks at him. “Can I?”

 

Kyuhyun nods. “Knock yourself out. They’re not that interesting.”

 

“I told him he should get an investigator on the case,” Changmin comments and Kyuhyun shoves him again for the comment.

 

“I’m not made of money,” he hisses. “I’ll probably not have a job by the time I get back.”

 

Changmin goes to make a sarcastic retort but frowns, looking past Kyuhyun. “Yunho?”

 

Kyuhyun looks as well to see the male frowning, hands holding the papers roughly. “Yunho?”

 

Yunho looks at them, but his eyes lock on Kyuhyun. “You...”

 

Kyuhyun stares. “Me what?”

 

Yunho snaps the file shut, and smiles. “Nothing!”

 

Kyuhyun pulls a face. “Right....” he says slowly, not believing him. “So you-”

 

“I best be going,” the male smiles, tone carefree as he hands Kyuhyun the file. “Changmin’s right, you should save for it.”

 

Kyuhyun slowly takes the file, his gut twisting. “You-”

 

“Come on, Min, you can help me,” Yunho calls suddenly, causing the younger male to jerk in surprise and stumbling to follow in confusion.

 

Kyuhyun shrugs in response to Changmin’s confused look at him.

 

As he watches them both leave, more like Changmin running after Yunho, Kyuhyun’s gut twists further.

 

 

 

As they walked down the steep steps from the cabins, Yunho pulls Changmin from out of view, almost causing him to stumble.

 

“What the hell!” Changmin hisses, panicked as Yunho steadies him.

 

“I need you to test Kyuhyun,” Yunho orders, quietly, and Changmin stares at him.

 

“What?”

 

“Changmin, please don’t question me on this,” Yunho begs, “get a blood sample to Jiyeon and tell her I ordered it.”

 

Changmin straightens, ignoring how cold the rain is soaking his face. “Kyuhyun is human,” he reminds him, slowly.

 

Yunho doesn’t answer and instead looks down the steps, causing Changmin to grab him and force him to look at him. “Yunho,” he warns, “You need to tell me for me to do this.”

 

Yunho looks hesitant and wary, and Changmin hardly ever sees the male looking like this.

 

“I think I know his birth mother,” Yunho admits, and Changmin’s blood runs cold to match the weather.

 

“But you-”

“Only treat shifters.”

 

Changmin lets the male go. “You would know if he was a shifter,” he argues hotly. “You would be able to smell it!”

 

Yunho sighs. “I would, but it’s just to be safe,” he assures him. “I’ll check my records, but I know I’ve seen her face before.”

 

Changmin moves to head down the rest of the steps, listening to Yunho hurry after him.

 

“You can’t-”

“Of course I won’t tell him!” Changmin snaps, rounding on the shifter. “I’ll do this, just to prove you wrong.”

 

Not giving the male a chance, Changmin leaves him, stalking across the property to head for his own living quarters.

 

There is no way Kyuhyun can be a shifter.

 

No way.

 

 

 


	20. Chapter 20

 

 

 

“So you think it’s injured?” Kyuhyun questions from behind him as Changmin leads him to his little work cabin.

 

Changmin shrugs. “It refuses to spread it wings, and it won’t eat.”

 

He hears Kyuhyun hum and Changmin spares a quick glance over his shoulder at the male.

 

He hadn’t been able to sleep last night due to Yunho’s words about Kyuhyun.

 

Changmin’s seen shifters come and go, has seen them in their worst states and best, works closely with them too, but he doesn’t want Kyuhyun to be part of that world. It’s unpredictable, not safe.

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t have any shifter traits; he’s more like Changmin, human.

 

Leading the male into his work cabin, Kyuhyun immediately spies where he had placed the caged crow.

 

“He’s a big guy,” Kyuhyun comments as Changmin takes his coat and hangs it up.

 

“And he’s all yours,” Changmin smirks as he hands over the thick gloves to handle him with.

 

As he watches Kyuhyun approach the cage, the crow turns to look at him, but doesn’t move.

 

It only moves when Kyuhyun’s next to the cage and it starts to squawk.

 

Changmin watches, curious, as Kyuhyun whispers to it.

 

He tried that and got nowhere yesterday. He knows Kyuhyun will have a hard time too.

 

Changmin tenses as Kyuhyun unlocks the cage, mouth parted to call out, but nothing comes out as he stands there, staring at what he’s seeing.

 

The crow doesn’t attack or make an attempt to escape; instead it watches Kyuhyun, its black eyes focused only on him.

 

Changmin suppresses a shiver at how...calm the thing is when he knows how volatile it had been to not just with him, but a worker as well.

 

As Kyuhyun gently grabs it and eases it out, Changmin’s stomach is flipping with nerves.

 

“Your experience is showing,” Changmin weakly jokes as Kyuhyun gently holds the bird as he checks it.

 

Kyuhyun shakes his head. “First time handling a crow.”

 

Changmin’s skin turns cold and he shivers.

 

The bird doesn’t make a sound, only stares at Kyuhyun as the male tests its wings.

 

 _He’s a vet_ , he argues with himself, the doubts. _He knows how to handle animals._

“He’s just dazed, his wings feel fine,” Kyuhyun comments, and gently jerks the bird and Changmin swallows as it flaps its wings a little before stopping as Kyuhyun contains it.

 

“So he’s free to go?” Changmin asks, and Kyuhyun nods as he heads over to him.

 

“Sure, just release him,” Kyuhyun says and stops as the bird starts to fuss the closer they get to Changmin.

 

“You release him,” Changmin bites out as the crow starts to cry out and Kyuhyun frowns as he holds it more firmly as he rushes past him.

 

Looking over his shoulder, Changmin swallows as the bird quietens.

 

“That doesn’t mean anything,” he says to himself as the door shuts.

 

Changmin’s gut disagrees.

 

 

 

_“Where are you?”_

 

Kyuhyun stops to catch his breath, shifting his phone. “I’ve been called out to see to an animal,” he tells Donghae as he looks around the forest.

 

Changmin rolls his eyes as he passes him, moving quiet.

 

_“What kind?”_

 

“A rabbit,” Kyuhyun says as he slowly walks, taking care not to make too much noise.

 

Donghae snorts. _“I was expecting something bigger,”_ he teases.

 

“You mean like you in your pet form?” Kyuhyun teases back, smiling.

 

 _“Hopefully not because that means it would be a shifter,”_ Donghae says seriously, joking tone gone. _“And I’m nowhere near to help you.”_

 

“Good thing that it’s a rabbit,” Kyuhyun says lightly.

 

_“Kyuhyun...”_

 

“I know,” Kyuhyun drones as he steps through some shrubbery. “I need to be careful.”

 

_“When I speak to Hyuk later on, I’ll ask him to-”_

 

“No!” Kyuhyun sharply says, cutting Donghae off and causing Changmin to jerk to a stop, alarmed.

 

 _“No?”_ Donghae echoes. _“He can-”_

 

“I don’t need babysitting, Donghae,” Kyuhyun grits out, waving off Changmin’s alarmed look.

 

 _“I wouldn’t call it that,”_ Donghae defends. _“I just want to make sure no one bothers you in the city whilst I’m away.”_

 

Kyuhyun sighs. “No one has and no one will.”

 

_“You can’t guarantee that.”_

 

“Do not get anyone to look out for me,” Kyuhyun warns, tone serious. “I don’t like it.”

 

Donghae doesn’t answer, but he can hear and imagine the sulky silence.

 

“Are we clear?” Kyuhyun pushes.

 

 _“Clear,”_ comes the unwilling answer.

 

Kyuhyun nods and quickly smothers a curse as he almost trips. “Stupid-”

 

 _“What happened?”_ Donghae demands anxiously.

 

“I just tripped,” Kyuhyun says as his heart calms down from the scare. “I’m not made to be trekking through the wilderness.”

 

Kyuhyun pulls his face, cursing in his head at his slip up.

 

Changmin notices as Donghae repeats what he said.

 

 _“Why are you in the wilderness?”_ Donghae demands, part confused, part annoyed.

 

“It’s where it ran off to?” Kyuhyun lies, heart racing as he makes it up as he goes.

 

 _“Then leave it,”_ came Donghae’s answer, and Kyuhyun rolls his eyes at the male’s bluntness.

 

“It’s only a backyard but it looks more like a wilderness,” Kyuhyun comments, saving himself.

 

Donghae snorts, amused now. _“How big is this backyard?”_

 

Kyuhyun looks around at the forest he’s in. “Big.”

 

Donghae cackles.

 

Changmin motions they’re nearing the clinic again, and Kyuhyun nods. “Hey, I have to go now so I can work properly,” he tells the shifter softly.

 

Donghae sighs. _“We only just started talking though.”_

 

Kyuhyun stops walking and waves Changmin to go on, motioning with his head that he’s going to talk longer.

 

Changmin doesn’t move but leans against the tree, watching him.

 

Kyuhyun turns his back on the male. “Talk to me whilst I set up this trap for the rabbit,” he lies as he makes noise as he pretends to work.

 

 _“My work with the control dude is done,”_ Donghae tells him, his voice happy as he scores more time with him. _“He said that I’m stable enough now.”_

 

Kyuhyun pauses in his work. “So what does that mean?”

 

_“It means I’ll hopefully being released soon once Yunho’s back from his trip to Seoul.”_

 

Kyuhyun worries his lips with his teeth. “So...you’re finished now?”

 _“Yunho just needs to analyse me again to make sure I’m stable enough, but only he can do that, so for now I have to sit here and rest,”_ Donghae tells him, and Kyuhyun bites his lip.

 

He knows that Yunho’s not going to release him any time soon until him and Donghae are no longer in touch.

 

“You make that sound like a bad thing,” Kyuhyun jokes, voice quiet.

 

 _“I hate being alone,”_ Donghae complains. “ _I need to be back where I’m needed.”_

 

Kyuhyun hums, unable to think up a response as guilt rakes through him.

 

 _“I should let you go, right?”_ Donghae asks, and laughs softly.

 

Kyuhyun’s chest tightens.

 

Looking down at the floor, he nods. “You should.”

 

 _“Alright,”_ Donghae sighs. _“I’ll speak to you later?”_

 

As Kyuhyun hums back in response, they hang up.

 

As he pockets his phone, he hears Changmin approach him.

 

“What’s up?” the male asks him as Kyuhyun slowly rises.

 

“I think I need to stop calling him,” he murmurs as he turns to face him, and Changmin frowns.

 

“Well yeah, but-”

 

“I mean, I should stop calling him now,” Kyuhyun cuts in, tone clipped.

 

Changmin eyes him. “Yunho said we should take it slow.”

 

“Yunho isn’t here,” Kyuhyun spits as he shoves past him. “Donghae’s not getting any better with me still calling him. It’s not making him less attached, if anything it’s making him more,” Kyuhyun snarls as he storms off.

 

“You’re going in the-”

 

Kyuhyun gasp as he skids, falling forwards into a slight dip.

 

Hissing, he ignores Changmin’s shout as he shakes his hand from where he caught it on his way down.

 

“Please tell me you didn’t hurt your ankle again,” Changmin moans as he leans slightly to help Kyuhyun out of the ditch.

 

Kyuhyun shakes his head as he’s pulled out. “I cut my hand though, must’ve caught it when I tried to catch myself,” he mutters, eyeing the deep scratch on his palm.

 

Changmin laughs and Kyuhyun punches him with his hand that isn’t injured as the male leads him into the correct direction.

 

“You definitely aren’t made for forests,” Changmin teases as Kyuhyun cradles his injured hand.

 

“Maybe a long time ago I was,” Kyuhyun says back, causing another snort of laugher to come from his friend.

 

Seeing the head of the clinic come through the trees, Kyuhyun pauses.

 

“We can’t go there,” Kyuhyun reminds him.

 

“I have a first aid kit in my cabin,” Changmin reassures, and Kyuhyun relaxes as he follows the male.

 

He’s going to break one of Yunho’s rules; he isn’t going to break them all in one day.

 

 

 

Watching Kyuhyun’s distant figure go up the steps towards his cabin, Changmin looks away from the window and wanders over to the tissues on his counter.

 

As he carefully picks up the blood covered tissues, Changmin argues with himself what he should do.

 

Follow Yunho’s orders, or follow his morals which are screaming at him that it’s not right to do a blood test without someone’s permission.

 

Changmin thinks back on their day, and his gut tightens, his arguing intensifying.

 

What should he do....he doesn’t know.

 

He knows that either way will spell trouble.

 

And he could possibly lose a friend either way.

 

So...what should he do?

 

 

 


	21. Chapter 21

 

 

 

Looking at the time, Kyuhyun’s leg bounces harder, his tapping getting more frantic.

 

It’s been nearly a full day, and he hasn’t called Donghae once.

 

The shifter isn’t allowed to ring him, it’s always been Kyuhyun. But, he was still nervous, waiting for his phone to ring with the clinic’s name flashing on the screen.

 

“Do you want to head into town tonight?” Changmin’s question causes him to jump in surprise.

 

“What?” Kyuhyun asks as the male comes and leans against the desk he was at, where he was meant to be reading a journal about shifters, courtesy of Changmin.

 

“I’m going mad from being stuck here,” Changmin groans as Kyuhyun looks up at him. “So let’s go into the neighbouring town and have a little bit of fun.”

 

Kyuhyun shrugs. “Where is the harm in that?”

 

Changmin grins. “Exactly.”

 

Deciding on the time for Changmin to collect Kyuhyun at his cabin, Kyuhyun leaves so that he can go have a shower and get ready.

 

On his way there though, his phone starts to ring with an unknown number.

 

Heart racing with the possibility it could be Donghae, he ignores it.

 

As he shoves it into his jacket pocket, Kyuhyun chews on his bottom lip as it continues to vibrate with the call.

 

It’s when he starts climbing the steps that it ends, and Kyuhyun breathes a sigh of relief.

 

It starts to ring again as he nears his cabin, and Kyuhyun’s heart feels heavy as he continues to ignore it.

 

He continues to ignore it, knowing that it can’t be his family since they’ve been texting him throughout the week, keeping him informed of his sister’s health that was improving every day.

 

So he knew it was a high chance it was Donghae.

 

Shutting the door behind him, Kyuhyun takes off his jacket and heads to his bedroom. As the call ends and his phone flashes with 2 missed calls, Kyuhyun leaves it on his bed as he heads to shower.

 

He tries to take his time, to savour the peace inside the shower, but he has to face it.

 

Once cleaned and dried, Kyuhyun passes his bed and gets ready in something casual for wherever Changmin may end up taking him tonight. By the time he’s done and he checks his phone, Kyuhyun’s mouth dries.

 

11 missed calls.

 

As it starts to ring again, Kyuhyun answers it.

 

“Hel-”

 

_“Oh, so you are alive.”_

 

Kyuhyun shudders slightly at Donghae’s low tone. “I’ve been busy, Donghae,” he says.

_“And I’ve been worried,”_ Donghae snaps. _“Do you have any idea the thoughts that ran through my head when I received no call or any news about you?”_

 

Kyuhyun can imagine.

 

“Things are getting hectic at work,” Kyuhyun says, praying for patience and not to snap back.

 

“Then a simple call to tell me that would have done,” Donghae scolds him, and Kyuhyun hangs his head.

 

“I’m sorry,” he apologises, and he hears Donghae sigh heavily.

 

_“I overreacted, but still Kyuhyun, you had me worried.”_

 

Kyuhyun runs a hand through his hair, grabs it. “I’ll try and call you later if I can.”

 

_“You’re still at work?”_

 

“Hmm,” Kyuhyun hums out. “I have a ton of paperwork that needs doing because I’ve let it slip,” he lies.

 

 _“You better be taking care of yourself,”_ Donghae warns, and the care in the male’s voice nearly has Kyuhyun hanging up. _“Don’t kill yourself over a job, Kyuhyun.”_

 

Kyuhyun’s throat tightens. “I am,” he forces out.

 

 _“I’ll let you go now that I’ve heard from you,”_ Donghae says softly, and Kyuhyun picks up on the slight edge of sadness to the male’s words.

 

Kyuhyun nearly breaks. “Okay.”

 

 _“See you,”_ Donghae says, and Kyuhyun just say manages to say it back as he quickly hangs up.

 

Breathing fast, Kyuhyun hides his face with his hands, guilt eating at him.

 

 _This needs to be done_ , he reminds himself fiercely as he bites back how upset it’s making him.

 

He needs Donghae to let him go, and if that means by Kyuhyun being cold and distant, then so be it.

 

He isn’t going to allow the shifter to lose himself because of Kyuhyun.

 

He’s saved Kyuhyun; now it’s Kyuhyun’s turn to save him.

 

 

 

Donghae can’t stop moving.

 

The phone call he had with Kyuhyun a few hours ago is still rubbing him the wrong way. The male didn’t sound like himself, he sounded closed, scared almost.

 

Donghae kicked his desk’s chair and snarled as the build up of energy inside of him continued to grow.

 

Breathing in deeply and following through with his training in controlling himself, Donghae tried to calm down.

 

He’s been like this for three hours, constantly moving to the edge and back again.

 

His shifter didn’t help. It was still confined by the use of the drugs in his system, but it could still speak to him, whisper things that Donghae didn’t want to hear.

 

Like how Kyuhyun was leaving them, that he was growing distant, and that they have scared him off, for good.

 

Donghae can feel his focus on his control slipping and he shoves those thoughts away.

 

Kyuhyun is just busy, he was always working late when they were both back in the city, Donghae focuses on that.

 

Because if he focused on his shifter’s words, he’ll have to address the sense of agreement he feels too.

 

He believes something is causing Kyuhyun to pull away from him, and he has a pretty good feeling what that something is.

 

It’s only a coincidence that, once Yunho leaves, Kyuhyun is pulling away from him.

 

Grounding himself, Donghae shuts down his shifter in order to concentrate.

 

He hasn’t done it from this far away, it may not even work, but he’s going to try.

 

It takes him awhile, and he’s starting to sweat with effort, but he makes contact.

 

_Hae?_

 

Donghae sags with relief, falling to sit on his bed at the sound of Hyuk’s voice in his head.

 

 _I need your help_ , he tells the shifter and immediately feels the male’s concern.

 

_Yunho said you were-_

 

 _Never mind what he says_ , Donghae growls. _I need you to track Kyuhyun._

 

_Track?_

 

 _I need you to see if he’s meeting with Yunho_ , Donghae explains further. _Or see how he’s doing and if he’s being bothered._

 

 _Hae...you’re going to be out in a few more days_ , the shifter tries to pacify him.

 

Donghae snarls out loud and it carries through to the link.

 

 _I’ll get back to you when I find him_ , Hyukjae whispers and Donghae keeps the link open so that he can wait for Hyuk’s findings.

 

He will get to the bottom of it.

 

He will see if Kyuhyun is being taken away from him.

 

 

 

Kyuhyun’s in love with this little town.

 

“I may move out here,” he says seriously, though slightly tipsy as he slumps against Changmin’s shoulder.

 

Changmin snorts. “I’d rather you didn’t.”

 

Kyuhyun slaps him for the cheek.

 

“Brat,” he mumbles and Changmin nods as he drinks more of his beer.

 

“Want another?” Changmin asks him and Kyuhyun shakes his head.

 

“We should get back, it’s already late,” he sighs, but doesn’t move.

 

Changmin groans. “Do we have to?”

 

Kyuhyun groans along with him as he moves himself from his pillow. “Come on,” he orders as he sways slightly. “Do cabs even run out here?”

 

“We’re about to find out,” Changmin grumbles as he follows Kyuhyun out of the little bar they were in.

 

It takes them twenty minutes of walking and stumbling slowly until they find a row of three old-fashioned taxis waiting on the main street.

 

As Changmin gives the elderly man directions to the clinic, Kyuhyun falls in the backseat.

 

He’s had a good night, but he wants his bed now.

 

As they drive, Kyuhyun slumps against Changmin again, causing the younger to whine in complaint.

 

“Shut up and take it,” Kyuhyun slurs, and swats at him to shush.

 

“Are you vibrating or is it the car moving?” Changmin asks, confused.

 

Kyuhyun gropes for his pockets. “It’s me,” he says, confused as he sits up to get his phone out.

 

At seeing 4 missed calls, Kyuhyun groans.

 

“What’s wrong?” Changmin asks and presses himself close to look at his phone. “Who is that?”

 

“Donghae,” Kyuhyun moans out, his good mood vanishing. “He rang me earlier too.”

 

“He’s not meant to ring you though,” Changmin states. “He isn’t allowed access to a phone.”

 

Kyuhyun blinks at that. “What?”

 

Changmin nods. “Patients aren’t allowed personal phones during their stay, nor are they allowed to make outgoing calls without a higher staff’s permission.”

 

 Kyuhyun’s stomach starts to roll, and it has little to do with the alcohol. “So how has he managed to get to a phone?”

 

Changmin thinks. “He could...” Changmin gives Kyuhyun an uneasy look. “He could have threatened a staff member?”

 

Kyuhyun shakes his head. “He wouldn’t do that.”

 

“Then how else do you explain it?” Changmin demands. “Open your eyes, Kyuhyun; shifters aren’t all sweet and innocent, they can turn nasty when pushed.”

 

Kyuhyun shushes him, but the old man is busy listening to his music than them.

 

They lapse into silence, both of them thinking of the same person.

 

As they approach the gates, Changmin asks for the taxi to stop and let them out here. Whilst Changmin pays the man, Kyuhyun gets out and heads for the gates.

 

The security dude from behind the gate immediately opens them, but he doesn’t look alarmed or anything, which does relax him, if only slightly.

 

As he and Changmin walk down the road leading to the clinic, Kyuhyun can’t stop his stomach from rolling; the anxiety and worry making him feel ill.

 

“I’ll phone them when I get to my cabin,” Changmin speaks up, drawing his attention. “I’ll ask to see if Donghae’s broken conduct.”

 

Kyuhyun nods. “We never did tell them that I was stopping contact,” he points out. “They could be worried and allowed it.”

 

“But they know you’re still here,” Changmin throws back. “They could have rang you.”

 

Kyuhyun sighs, his temples pulsing. “I dunno anymore; let’s just see what they say first.”

 

As they both part ways, Kyuhyun tries to sober himself with the cold night air.

 

He should have clicked when Donghae rang him, but he was so caught up in his own guilt that he failed to notice.

 

Looking down at his phone as he slowly ascends the stairs leading to the cabins; he suddenly hears an ear splitting alarm come from the clinic.

 

Glancing down at it, Kyuhyun stares as shutters quickly cover the windows and doors, locking the place down.

 

Kyuhyun stumbles up the stairs in a bid to run the rest of the way to his cabin where his line to the clinic is.

 

Shoving the door open, Kyuhyun races for the phone and blindly presses the button to connect him to the reception.

 

As it rings, Kyuhyun stiffens.

 

He locked the door when he left...so why was it open when he arrived?

 

Phone to his ear, Kyuhyun slowly turns as he hears the sound of the door shutting.

 

As the door clicks home, Kyuhyun drops the phone.

 

All he sees is angry amber eyes staring back at him.

 

“Donghae...” Kyuhyun breathes out.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm enjoying all the speculation you guys are doing on what's to come... but start to prepare yourselves. 
> 
> My little warning for my wonderful readers ^-^


	22. Chapter 22

 

 

 

Seeing the human standing there, bold as brass, Donghae felt his shifter curl tighter around him, breathing down his neck to take action.

 

Kyuhyun’s fear slammed into him, causing him to snarl quietly, the sound dragging out of him as he fast approaches Kyuhyun, causing him to drop the phone.

 

“Follow me,” he orders.

 

As Kyuhyun’s intoxicating further riles his shifter into wanting nothing more than to grab the male close and keep him close, Donghae could feel part of his mind speak to him, beyond the consuming madness his shifter was flooding through him.

 

They needed to leave fast, and Donghae couldn’t acknowledge that voice in the back of his mind that was his own, begging him to stop.

 

Donghae snarls for Kyuhyun to be quiet before leading him away from his cabin, becoming more in tune with his shifter’s influence.

 

 

 

Changmin’s racing up the stairs with the security hot on his heels.

 

“Kyuhyun?!” he shouts, his voice echoing as he races for his friend’s dark cabin.

 

At seeing the door partially open, Changmin sprints, ignoring the calls for him to stop.

 

Shoving it open, he scans the place.

 

The only thing out of place is the phone hanging off the table, dangling by the cord.

 

“Kyuhyun?” Changmin calls out as he slowly searches the cabin for his friend.

 

At the sound of security coming in, Changmin’s heart clenches at seeing no sign of the male, or Donghae.

 

“Clear!” someone shouts, and Changmin’s seeing red as he kicks the bed in fury.

 

“I want four parties searching these woods!” Changmin snaps out as he heads back to front door. “I want your best shifter with me,” he orders, and the security personal looks aggravated, but nods.

 

Changmin knows these woods better than anyone; he’ll be the one to find them.

 

As the parties begin to split, they hear the sound of a car engine revving. As they all spin to look at the direction the sound is coming from, they see a small car racing from the parking lot and down the road, leading away from the clinic.

 

“Stop him!” Changmin screams, knowing it in his heart that it’s Donghae.

 

As they all scramble to stop him, the sound of orders and radios going off, Changmin’s faster than all of them as he practically flies down the steps.

 

As he sprints down the road, he stills at seeing a body lying on the floor, the gates wide open.

 

“We need a medic!” he shouts as he races for the fallen security guard.

 

As he and a few others come to a halt to check the man, Changmin breathes heavy at seeing the blood.

 

“Is he alive?” he asks, voice shot as one of the security men checks.

 

At seeing the male’s white face, Changmin knows his answer.

 

“Get Yunho here,” he snaps, voice quiet, and shaking from rage and fear.

 

At hearing nothing happen behind him, he spins, enraged.

 

“Now!”

 

 

 

Kyuhyun’s stopped shaking now, but he can’t speak due to fear.

 

He swallows, glancing at the shifter beside him.

 

Kyuhyun has no idea where they are or where they’re going, but Donghae hasn’t said anything to him since the cabin where he had told Kyuhyun to follow him and to be quick, and silent.

 

Kyuhyun had been too terrified and surprised the shifter was _outside_ the clinic to do anything but do as he was told.

 

Glancing at the speed meter, Kyuhyun swallows at seeing how fast Donghae is driving.

 

“You should slow down,” he whispers.

 

The engine revs, the arrow flying to meet the 110mph mark.

 

Kyuhyun squeezes his knees, eyes shutting to block out the blurred scenery.

 

“You lied.”

 

Kyuhyun shudders at how different Donghae sounds. “I-”

 

“You lied!” Donghae snarls, cutting him off, and Kyuhyun glances to look at him, seeing the shifter’s amber eyes fixed on him, and not the empty road.

 

“Donghae...” Kyuhyun says clearly, “you need to get back into control.”

 

Donghae scoffs and looks back to the road, speed picking up and causing Kyuhyun’s heart to stutter in fear.

 

It’s too dark, the road growing narrow as Donghae takes them away from the main highway they had been driving on for the last twenty minutes.

 

“Believe it or not, Kyuhyun,” Donghae growls, “I am in control.”

 

Kyuhyun stares. “Y-your eyes, they only-”

 

Kyuhyun gasps as Donghae brakes suddenly, jolting forward but not going far as Donghae’s arm and his seatbelt keeps him steady.

 

Kyuhyun looks down at the arm holding him back. “I need you to calm down,” Donghae growls out, but it’s not rough with anger anymore.

 

Kyuhyun presses back into his seat, Donghae’s arm moving away from him as he tries to reign in his fear.

 

“If I wanted to hurt you, Kyuhyun, I would have done so already,” Donghae points out. “And I don’t plan on harming you either.”

 

Kyuhyun breathes deeply, and spies the speed dropping as they drive. “Where are we?” he asks, needing to focus on something that won’t flare up his fear.

 

“My other home.”

 

Kyuhyun looks up out of the window to see Donghae driving them down a dirt road now. Kyuhyun watches as the forest presses in on them, making the ride more bumpy and narrow, but Donghae drives the stolen car with ease.

 

“You never said you owned another,” Kyuhyun whispers, and stiffens up again when Donghae suddenly yanks the steering.

 

Donghae’s arm is back, pressing firmly against Kyuhyun’s chest as the car begins to fall.

 

Kyuhyun shuts his eyes, braced for the crash as the car falls down the incline, heading for the trees below, his stomach leaving him due to the sudden drop.

 

The moment they smack into the trees, Kyuhyun gasps, air being knocked from his lungs as he jerks forward, but Donghae keeps him from getting hurt as the airbags explode as the window shatters due to the force and speed.

 

Kyuhyun hisses as he feels some glass cut him, and then he’s gasping as Donghae moves fast, unlocking his seatbelt and pulling him over to him like he weighs nothing.

 

As Donghae kicks open his door further and carefully pulled Kyuhyun free from the front of the car, Kyuhyun can only make out the scattered light from the front of the tree, allowing him to see how smashed the front is.

 

“W-why?” Kyuhyun stutters out, body shaking with adrenaline.

 

 Donghae’s arm latches around his waist, holding him up as he shakes. Kyuhyun clutches at him and sees the male’s eyes no longer amber.

 

“It’ll stop them from looking for a while,” Donghae says as he gently guides Kyuhyun away.

 

Kyuhyun is about to demand answers when he hears the car moving, creaking as the backend starts to tilt towards the side. Kyuhyun stares, holding onto Donghae as the car moves and drops further down the incline, smashing against every tree it meets.

 

Kyuhyun feels Donghae press him closer, hands tight against his back. “Come on,” Donghae whispers as the sound of the car finally meets its end. “I’ll help you.”

 

Kyuhyun automatically accepts Donghae’s help as the male helps him climb back up the hill, back to the dirt road.

 

Donghae never allows him to fall down, always there to catch him and help him.

 

The change between the Donghae he saw in his cabin and the Donghae now has Kyuhyun’s mind reeling.

 

As he stumbles back onto the road with Donghae quick to catch him, Kyuhyun’s panting, sweating from the climb, the alcohol in his system causing him to feel queasy from the climb and the rush of adrenaline.

 

Donghae grabs his elbow gently and leads him silently down the road, confusing Kyuhyun.

 

“I thought-”

 

Donghae chuckles a little, but it’s too dark for Kyuhyun to see what the male’s face is showing. “It would be foolish of me to lead them to my home, wouldn’t it?”

 

Kyuhyun swallows.

 

“So...we’re nowhere near?”

 

Kyuhyun gasps as Donghae tugs him gently towards the forest, chest tightening. “I c-can’t-”

 

“I know these woods well,” Donghae reassures him softly, arm coming around to hold him as he leads. “It won’t take long.”

 

Kyuhyun’s hearing starts to ring as the smell of the wood and the darkness gets to him.

 

His knees buckle, and Donghae catches him as Kyuhyun starts to feel choked from panic.

 

 

 

Seeing the lights on at his cabin, Donghae gently shifts Kyuhyun’s weight in his arms and looks down at the unconscious male.

 

He did try to calm him, but Kyuhyun’s fear was too much.

 

“I told you I would get you out of there safely,” he whispers, and brushes his lips over the male’s damp forehead.

 

When he planned on taking Kyuhyun away from the clinic and to bring him here, Donghae had forgotten about the male’s history with the forest, forgot about his memory of being lost and chased.

 

You would think he’d remember since he was the one who had chased Kyuhyun back into the arms of his father.

 

Sighing, Donghae looks down at Kyuhyun.

 

“I guess we’re both lucky you weren’t matured enough back then so that your scent didn’t trap you to me then,” he murmurs, and he hears the sound of a door opening.

 

Looking up and seeing Hyukjae’s profile, Donghae tightens his grip on the human.

 

He had promised Hyukjae that once he and Kyuhyun could speak honestly about everything, he’d allow the human to make the final call.

 

Of course, Donghae had no intentions of playing nice about the fact he wanted Kyuhyun to stay with him. He could teach Kyuhyun things, he could share this world with Kyuhyun, he could have the human by his side and he wouldn’t be lonely anymore.

 

Of all the stories he’s heard about his kind, the love he’s seen and heard has left a jealous void inside him, wanting to experience it too. He wanted Kyuhyun to stay despite of the dangerous attachment; he wanted Kyuhyun to stay willingly.

 

He wanted him for good.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I have two announcements!
> 
> Before you all come at me saying that I've ruined the flow of the story now with this anti-climatic chapter, I've spent the last two days rewriting this in every possible way and none have suited to what is coming next. There are too many ties that need fastening for it all to go mad now...which only means you're going to have to watch out and read the warning signs I'm trying to feed you in the coming chapters.
> 
> And lastly, as you may have noticed, I've noted when the story will be ending - five chapters from now. This means instead of me updating twice per week, I'm going to be doing it all over the next couple of days so that any questions or frustrations that come up because of what's to come can be quickly answered by the chapters...or by me if I've failed completely to write it correctly within the fic. 
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you all have a wonderful day/night ^-^


	23. Chapter 23

 

 

 

Slowly walking down the corridor, Kyuhyun listens to the voices he can hear coming from below.

 

He just woken up a few minutes ago, confused and disorientated at being in a bedroom he didn’t recognise. It had taken a few seconds for his mind to kick into gear and remembered what had happened last night.

 

Donghae escaping, taking Kyuhyun with him, the crash, and then finally, the forest.

 

But instead of panicking, Kyuhyun was oddly calm. The room had smelt of Donghae’s earthy musk, and after not being able to smell it for days, it sort of relaxed him, made him feel at ease. After the care Donghae had used with him last night, he had no reason to fear the shifter.

 

When he left the bedroom in hunt of finding the shifter, he heard the voices.

 

Creeping down so that he’s crouching, Kyuhyun spies through the wooden poles of the banister from where he’s hiding on the top step.

 

Seeing Hyukjae sitting with Donghae was a surprise.

 

“Yunho will find you,” Hyukjae points out.

 

Kyuhyun watches as Donghae leans back, his back to Kyuhyun as he sits in the armchair.

 

“I’m not hiding him,” Donghae sighs, and Hyukjae gives the shifter a look. “I’m not!”

 

“You forced him to follow you.”

 

“I never once harmed him,” Donghae defends.

 

“No, but you used his fear,” Hyukjae argues.

 

Kyuhyun sort of agrees with that. He had been terrified for the most part of last night, but he also felt guilty that he was the one to have pushed it this far.

 

Donghae sighs, the sound heavy. “I won’t force him to stay. It’ll be his choice once things have been discussed.”

 

“You say that,” Hyukjae slowly starts to say, “but what if he reacts in the way you don’t want him to? What if he wants to leave and never acknowledge you again?”

 

“That can’t happen,” Donghae argues, tone fierce. “He’s part of our world now; he can’t run from it.”

 

“That’s not what I asked. I asked, ‘what if he doesn’t want to know _you_ anymore?’”

 

Kyuhyun swallows, his gut churning at the male’s question.

 

Donghae’s back tenses, Kyuhyun can see it happen clearly through the male’s dark navy shirt.

 

“Then you can take him back home,” Donghae says, his voice barely carrying to Kyuhyun’s ears. “I’ll have Yunho look out for him.”

 

Kyuhyun rises and silently heads back to his room.

 

Shutting the door quietly behind him, Kyuhyun exhales slowly, gathering his thoughts.

 

Yunho’s words from that night of telling Kyuhyun that it’s far too dangerous to stay with a shifter suffering from attachment, come back to haunt his mind, confusing him with what he feels now he’s in the situation.

 

He wants to stay, he likes Donghae, and he knows he’s starting to feel something more for the male, but with the way things are, he knows that his feelings will only be adding more fuel to the fire smouldering, waiting for the moment to blaze everything in its path to get what it wants.

 

Before this night, Kyuhyun had been determined to remove himself from Donghae’s life, for the shifter’s sake.

 

But...no one has ever asked Donghae of how he feels. They’ve all assumed and took control over his health, when really they should have at least confronted the shifter with it.

 

Donghae would have argued, but if they had done so, Kyuhyun would still be back at the clinic without its security now looking for them both.

 

Hearing a knock come from behind him, Kyuhyun braces himself.

 

He doesn’t know what to do.

 

 

 

Whilst Hyukjae leaves to buy them some food, Donghae waits outside his bedroom that he had left Kyuhyun in.

 

Knocking again, Donghae can feel his shifter grumble at the lack of answer, but the drugs are still lingering in his system, preventing it from properly voicing its reaction.

 

“Kyuhyun?” Donghae softly calls out, knocking again.

 

He hears Kyuhyun call and he opens the door, poking his head inside.

 

Kyuhyun was standing by the windows overlooking the forest, his back to Donghae.

 

“How are you feeling?” Donghae asks as he shifts more of his body between the gap, but not fully.

 

Kyuhyun shrugs. “I have no idea,” the vet says, and Donghae catches the male’s reflection.

 

Guilt tugs at him at seeing the male’s confused expression. “I’m coming in, okay?”

 

Kyuhyun nods and Donghae comes in properly, but leaves the door ajar, to show that he isn’t trapping Kyuhyun.

 

Donghae goes to sit on his bed as Kyuhyun turns to look at him. “Let’s not dance around this,” the human sighs, and Donghae’s stomach clenches with nerves.

 

Donghae clears his throat, his shifter forcing itself to become even more aware of what’s happening. “When did they tell you?” he asks quietly, watching him.

 

“Since our meeting,” he answers. “Why did you leave?”

 

Donghae’s expression sours immediately, but tries to control it. “Because I was being lied to,” he grits out. “Yunho-”

 

“Yunho told me the truth and educated me on the fact that you’re currently unwell,” Kyuhyun cuts over him. “He didn’t trick me into anything. I willingly helped.”

 

Donghae tries to fight down the urge to check the male at being abruptly cut off, needing to gain the control again. “He told you that I was dangerous?” he asks, tone sharp.

 

Kyuhyun nods.

 

Donghae scoffs. “Then why are you still here?” he questions as he rises. “Why willingly help someone who can turn dangerous and kill you?” he sneers as him and Kyuhyun refuses to look away.

 

“I knew you were dangerous the second you told me you weren’t human,” Kyuhyun deadpans. “But to answer your question; you saved me, it’s only right I’d do the same back.”

 

“Wow,” Donghae drawls. “Such honour you have,” he sarcastically says, and Kyuhyun’s cheek muscle clenches.

 

“Don’t speak to me like that,” the human hisses, aggrieved.

 

“Then stop saying such bullshit things,” Donghae growls. “It’s not just because you felt indebted to me, but more. No other sane person would even think to help an unstable shifter.”

 

Kyuhyun laughs. “You think so highly of yourself, don’t you?” Kyuhyun shakes his head, his brown eyes hardened with anger. “All of these years having other shifters fear you because you’re some big bad wolf of your world has made your ego huge,” the vet spits, and Donghae can feel his skin tighten at the male’s mocking.

 

“I didn’t come here to argue,” he snarls out, the anger and tension in the air making it thicken even more, pressing down on them.

 

“Too late,” Kyuhyun snarls back, his face like thunder. “You can’t control me, Donghae. You can’t wrap me around your little finger.”

 

 “I think I already have.”

 

Kyuhyun scoffs harshly. “I willingly stayed,” he reminds him. “Don’t read too much into it.”

 

“Then why have I been able to smell your attraction to me over the last few weeks?” Donghae’s shifter practically purrs at Donghae in praise as Kyuhyun’s face turns stunned.

 

Donghae slowly moves closer to the human, inhaling his delicious scent and enjoying the freedom of being able to enjoy it again.

 

“I would have thought that night I started to shift in front of you would have chased any attraction to me away, so imagine my surprise when I caught scent of it when we met again,” Donghae softly tells Kyuhyun, enjoying the way the male starts to back up against the window, cheeks pink, eyes panicked.

 

Kyuhyun starts to breathe quick as Donghae stops his approach, with only a tiny space separating them.

 

“Nothing to retort back?” Donghae asks, watching as the human continues to be flustered by his words and close presence.

 

His answer is Kyuhyun’s scent becoming even sweeter with the scent of his attraction to Donghae.

 

Kyuhyun gasps and Donghae blinks in surprise himself at finding himself caging the human, his hands pressing firmly against the window, and he feels his shifter’s influence in his muscles weaken due to the drugs.

 

“What...y-you...” Kyuhyun chokes out, and Donghae can _feel_ the male’s emotions as they get stronger, his head and his shifter becoming choked up with the male’s very being.

 

Donghae can feel his shifter pushing at him harder, whispering in his head again to act now that the time is perfect.

 

_If we want to keep him, do it._

Donghae starts to breathe heavy, and stiffens when he feels Kyuhyun’s hesitant hands press against his stomach.

 

“It’s not just you who feels it,” Donghae whispers out, his heart racing as stares into those brown eyes.

 

Kyuhyun makes a strangles sound, his eyes widening.

 

Donghae gently cradles the human’s face, not looking away as a tingly rush flushes over his skin at the contact.

 

“Stay,” Donghae whispers.

 

Kyuhyun shuts his eyes, his hands grasping the front of Donghae’s shirt.

 

Donghae shuts his eyes as he leans down.

 

Just the barest touch of their lips meeting causes both of them to gasp, and for a fire to ignite in Donghae’s body, rushing through his blood as he lets out a desperate growl as he holds Kyuhyun more firmer as the scent of him fuels the fire inside him.

 

He feels Kyuhyun shudder, and he presses their lips together again, the fire burning him as Kyuhyun responds.

 

His shifter grows stronger in his mind; he can feel its presence grow more in his focus as that fire burns through the drugs, slowly allowing his shifter to come back to him without any chains.

 

When they pull back, both breathing heavy, Donghae’s shifter pushes into his focus again, and he sees Kyuhyun reaction to their joint being, his eyes widening at seeing his eyes shift colour.

 

_“Stay,”_ they whisper together, and Kyuhyun stares at them, transfixed.

 

When Kyuhyun nods, his shifter lets out a victorious sound, and Donghae smiles as his thumb strokes Kyuhyun’s soft cheek.

 

The plan worked.

 

They have him.

 

 


	24. Chapter 24

 

 

 

“It’s been two fucking days and we have yet to rescue Kyuhyun,” Changmin snarls, his lack of sleep and all the worrying over the male has finally made him snap.

 

“We’ve only just found out Donghae’s original place of residence,” Yunho calmly explains as Changmin starts to pace. “We can’t just bombard a canine-shifter’s home, especially an alpha’s home,” Yunho chides.

 

“So Kyuhyun could be dead or hurt, but no, we can’t do anything to help him in case we upset an alpha’s feelings,” Changmin sarcastically retorts.

 

“You’re not a shifter-”

 

“So of course I don’t understand?” Changmin spits, furious. “I understand that you’re too scared to approach Donghae now he’s free and on his own turf. I also understand that with what we know about Kyuhyun, we need to get him far away from Donghae before shit truly hits the fan.”

 

Yunho sighs, his face tight with controlling his true emotions. “Kyuhyun isn’t at risk of shifting,” he explains, again. “It’s too weak to allow that to happen.”

 

“None of us know that for sure!” Changmin argues, smacking Yunho’s desk. “How many half shifters do you personally know, Yunho?”

 

“...erm.”

 

“Exactly.” Changmin shoves away from Yunho and heads towards the door. “The faster we act, the less messy it’s going to be on both sides.”

 

Without giving the shifter a chance, Changmin slams the door behind him.

 

 

 

Kyuhyun jumps at feeling arms sneak around his waist, his cheeks burning as Donghae hums softly as he cuddles him from behind.

 

“Erm,” Kyuhyun says as shyness starts to cripple him. “Do you mind?” he says as shifts slightly away from the cooker, his preparation for dinner on hold now.

 

He squeaks in surprise as Donghae presses a kiss to his neck, arms tightening. “We could just order in,” he says softly, and Kyuhyun sighs.

 

“I want ramen,” he whines as he carefully opens the packet.

 

“But that’s only going to make you hungry again in an hour,” Donghae chuckles.

 

“Then we’ll order in.”

 

Kyuhyun smiles at the snort of amusement from Donghae; relaxing more the longer he’s being held.

 

He was still in shock by the turn of events, it hasn’t even been a full twenty-four hours since both of them sort of confessed to liking each other, and Donghae’s affection felt too much too soon.

 

But...Kyuhyun liked it, despite it feeling so rushed. He liked the little nervous flutters in his stomach, the way his heart would race every time Donghae came close.

 

Donghae seemed to thrive on knowing Kyuhyun’s attraction, on seeing and knowing just how he’s affecting Kyuhyun.

 

It irritated him at being read so openly by the shifter.

 

A soft kiss pressed just below his ear has Kyuhyun shuddering, breaking him away from his thoughts.

 

“The water is ready,” the shifter teases, and he lets Kyuhyun go so he can work.

 

But he doesn’t leave him; he rests against the counter and watches Kyuhyun.

 

After five minutes of none-stop watching him, Kyuhyun cracks.

 

“Seriously?” he snaps as he stirs, giving the shifter a look. “That’s creepy.”

 

Donghae grins. “I’m just watching your technique.”

 

Kyuhyun scoffs at the lie. “Whatever.”

 

Donghae mocks him, tone high, and Kyuhyun kicks at him, causing the shifter to bark out a laugh.

 

“So fearless,” Donghae teases as he comes back to hug him from behind.

 

Kyuhyun sighs and tries to prevent the hug, but Donghae tightens his hold on him and pulls him back against his body, stopping him. “If I burn myself...” Kyuhyun threatens as he tries not to knock the pan too much.

 

“I’ll take care of it,” Donghae purrs in his ear, and Kyuhyun shudders at the tickling feeling, his heart skipping at the firm embrace.

 

It would be a lie if he hadn’t noticed how....clingy Donghae has become.

 

He’s like Kyuhyun’s shadow at the moment.

 

Hearing a dull ring come from somewhere in the house, Kyuhyun turns his head to try and locate it and freezes as it almost forced Donghae to accidently kiss him.

 

Donghae chuckles at reading his split second of panic. “Cute.”

 

Kyuhyun’s face burns at the affectionate tone.

 

“You should go answer that,” he tries to get rid of him, and Donghae shakes his head, cuddling him tighter.

 

“If it’s Hyuk, he can reach me in other ways.”

 

Kyuhyun frowns at that and pauses his stirring to try and look at the male. “How?”

 

Donghae nuzzles his cheek with his nose. “I’m an alpha, remember?”

 

Kyuhyun tries to jerk away from the embarrassing action, only to be stopped. “A-and?”

 

Donghae pulls back a little so he can turn Kyuhyun around. “It means I come with a few neat tricks,” he teases.

 

Kyuhyun stares at him, mind working. “You...you can read minds?” he says, unsure.

 

“I can bridge a connection to any shifter part of my ‘pack’,” Donghae explains, using the term ‘pack’ loosely. “It’s how I was able to find out the truth about you.”

 

Kyuhyun flushes at that. “That’s....too weird.”

 

Donghae shrugs. “Normal for me.”

 

When the phone rings again, a look of annoyance graces Donghae’s face.

 

Kyuhyun nudges for him to go. “It could be work,” he says, trying to soothe the shifter.

 

Donghae leaves without saying a word, and Kyuhyun sighs as he turns back to his dinner.

 

He hasn’t forgotten Yunho’s words, but he’s keeping an eye out on anything extreme changing. Kyuhyun isn’t classing Donghae’s sudden closeness into that category. Things have changed between them, they’re starting a new relationship with each other, a one of intimacy and feelings; it’s only natural for a person to want to be close to the person they’re dating.

 

Kyuhyun has everything under control.

 

Donghae is under control, and so is his shifter.

 

 

 

“You can come,” Donghae answers, bored as he looks out of the huge living room window.

 

_“And we won’t be met with aggression?”_

 

Donghae almost smirks at Yunho’s question. “Not unless you behave in a way that makes me aggressive,” he answers.

 

_“That’s my warning,”_ Yunho acknowledges. _“Now here is mine.”_

 

Donghae smirks this time. “Oh?”

 

_“If you become unreasonable or at all threatening to either myself or Kyuhyun-”_

 

“You and I both know I will never be threatening to Kyuhyun,” Donghae growls out.

 

_“Then I have every right to protect myself, and Kyuhyun,”_ Yunho finishes.

 

Donghae’s shifter fumes at the other shifter’s words, but he holds it back and agrees.

 

_“We’ll be coming tonight,”_ Yunho notifies him, his tone nonnegotiable.

 

Donghae ignores it. “You will come in the morning.”

 

_“The sooner we-”_

 

“I am not discussing this further, Yunho.” Donghae warns, and Yunho shuts up. “You will come tomorrow.”

 

Not bothering to listen to more, Donghae ends the call.

 

Hearing Kyuhyun’s soft relaxed humming from the kitchen soothes his shifter, their joint anger no longer boiling inside them.

 

Inhaling deeply, Donghae latches onto Kyuhyun’s scent that has started to weave itself over his home.

 

A sudden strong need started to crawl through his chest, his skin tingling from it.

 

He wanted Kyuhyun’s scent to saturate the place, want all to know that Kyuhyun was here, and he was Donghae’s, his marking clear.

 

He finds himself in the kitchen just as Kyuhyun starts to pour his meal into a bowl.

 

“Who-” Kyuhyun starts to ask as he finishes pouring the noodles, but pauses at Donghae’s quick approach, eyes looking over at him.

 

The clattering of the pan hitting the counter echoes around the kitchen with Kyuhyun’s shocked inhale joining it.

 

Holding Kyuhyun tighter to him, his hands threaded through those soft, vulnerable brown locks, Donghae’s mouth entices Kyuhyun to follow him, to meet his desire through their kiss.

 

And Kyuhyun does, and Donghae can feel the conflicting emotions the male suffers with as his shyness and his attraction towards Donghae magnifies, making the human clutch at him as he gasps softly as Donghae presses him against the counter.

 

Angling the male’s head back a little, Donghae plays with the male’s lips, his teeth feeling the pull and softness of Kyuhyun’s lips, and when Kyuhyun’s breathing changes, his scent burning through Donghae’s senses, Donghae’s shifter pushes for more.

 

Donghae curbs his shifter with promises of it happening it soon as he pulls away from Kyuhyun.

 

Seeing those red and thoroughly played with lips, Donghae smirks as his hand creeps to cup Kyuhyun’s jaw, his thumb lightly touching them while he meets Kyuhyun’s dazed gaze.

 

“Yunho is coming tomorrow,” Donghae tells him softly, watching him closely. “He wants to make sure you’re safe and staying willingly.”

 

The dazed look leaves Kyuhyun’s brown eyes as irritation floods them. “I can understand where he’s coming from, but it’s still annoying to know that everyone doubts my own choice.”

 

“They probably think you’re just saying it because you’re scared what might happen if you do leave,” Donghae says lightly as moves back slightly, but not fully.

 

Kyuhyun rolls his eyes. “All last night and this morning you constantly questioned my choice; that assured me I have no reason to fear you even if I did go back on my choice,” Kyuhyun explains as Donghae allows him to check the counter to see if the pan made much of a mess.

 

So he misses Donghae’s expression completely his words brought on.

 

Of course he asked him continuously, he had to be certain that things appeared to be in Kyuhyun’s hands, rather than Donghae’s as they were.

 

Watching as Kyuhyun moves to clean the mess, Donghae is careful to hide his smug expression as he watches the human.

 

Everything has worked out perfectly so far, and he’s going to ensure it continues to do so when Yunho comes tomorrow.

 

 

 

Reading Yunho’s tense face, Changmin shifted uncomfortably on the sofa they were asked to sit on.

 

“What’s wrong?” he whispers to the shifter as they wait for Donghae to tell Kyuhyun that they were here.

 

“The place reeks,” Yunho whispers back so quietly that Changmin has to shift closer to hear it.

 

Changmin frowns as he inhales deeply. All he can smell is the wood of the wooden interior structure of the modern cabin that was miles bigger and better than the dinky ones at the clinic.

 

“I can only smell the wood,” he murmurs back, confused.

 

“Donghae has mark-” Yunho begins, but shuts up when they hear the other two approach.

 

Changmin eyes Yunho for the abrupt end, but then focuses completely when Kyuhyun and Donghae walk in.

 

Kyuhyun looks well...really well for someone living with a potentially unstable shifter, and Donghae looks completely at ease.

 

“Drinks?” Donghae asks as Kyuhyun says hello to them.

 

Changmin shakes his head whilst Yunho nods.

 

As the shifter leaves to get Yunho a drink, Kyuhyun sits down.

 

Changmin notices Yunho stiffening up and glances to see the male focused solely on Kyuhyun.

 

“Why the sudden change?” Yunho asks Kyuhyun directly, catching them all off guard. “You were all for weaning off all contact with him.”

 

Changmin’s stomach clenches at seeing the warning look in Donghae’s eyes, the shifter paused by the doorway as he looks over his shoulder at them.

 

“He’s stable,” Kyuhyun answers, though a little flustered. “He-”

 

“He escaped his room by purposely misleading the staff on duty into thinking something was wrong, when the door opened, Donghae severely harmed that staff member so he could escape,” Yunho cuts Kyuhyun off, his tone clinical as the colour drains from Kyuhyun’s face. “He then used that staff’s ID to escape the ward and clinic, where he then found and tracked your scent to your cabin.”

 

“H-he...I-”

 

“You’re defending him,” Yunho acknowledges, ignoring the warning growl coming Donghae. “You’re defending his behaviour which not only meant he harmed someone to get what he wanted, but he got you exactly where he wanted you – away.”

 

Donghae snarls so violently that it makes Changmin jerk with fear as he rushes back to them.

 

A click sounds behind them, and Changmin peeks to see the guard who had followed them in holding his gun up, trained on Donghae.

 

Donghae snarl gets louder, his eyes amber. “Get out.”

 

Yunho remains seated, focused on Kyuhyun who was watching Donghae’s back uneasily as the shifter comes to a stand near him. “Have I threatened you, Kyuhyun?” he asks, and the half-shifter jerks at the question, shaking his head.

 

“No?” He answers, and Donghae’s amber eyes harden.

 

“Then ask Donghae to kindly walk off his aggression,” Yunho asks, tone still clinical and formal as he only regards Kyuhyun, and not the shifter in question.

 

“He is not my keeper,” Donghae snaps, enraged. “I warned you, Yunho.”

 

“And so far you’re showing me that Kyuhyun is not in a safe environment,” Yunho answer back with a little heat as he finally looks at Donghae. “Didn’t I warn _you_ about that?”

 

Changmin doesn’t dare to even breathe as the two shifters stare at each other.

 

“Donghae....” Kyuhyun calls softly as he looks up at the male who still has his back turned, so he isn’t aware of Donghae’s shifter appearing.

 

Donghae turns sharply and storms off back the way he had came, leaving them.

 

Changmin nearly sags with relief. “Kyu, how-”

 

“You purposely wound him up,” Kyuhyun suddenly hisses out, eyes blazing at Yunho. “You knew he would react like that!”

 

“Are we just going to ignore the fact that you’re still defending his behaviour?” Yunho casually asks.

 

Kyuhyun’s cheeks turn pink, his eyes still angry. “He needs someone in his corner when he has people like you purposely trying to make him snap!”

 

“I merely told you the truth,” Yunho argues back, the image of calm. “He obviously didn’t think to inform you of his escape.”

 

“And none of us stopped to think of him and his say in the way we’ve been treating him,” Kyuhyun snaps back. “He’s fine now that we’ve spoken about it; he doesn’t feel betrayed.”

 

“He is suffering from a possessive and territorial attachment over you,” Yunho once again reminds Kyuhyun. “He isn’t to be fully trusted.”

 

“He has not once hurt me,” Kyuhyun defends, irritated now. “Do I look like I’m being kept here as a hostage?”

 

Changmin pulls a face and Kyuhyun catches it. “What?”

 

“You didn’t even know the full truth,” Changmin tries to make Kyuhyun see sense. “He purposely left out details which may have led you to thinking staying here is an okay option.”

 

“It _is_ a perfectly okay option,” Kyuhyun growls back.

 

“So you’re okay with the fact that he harmed someone to get to you?” Changmin throws back, getting frustrated with the vet.

 

Kyuhyun sighs heavily. “Yes that’s bad, but it’s not like he killed-”

 

“He killed the security guard at the gate!” Changmin shouts and Kyuhyun stares at him at the outburst. “He _killed_ someone to escape with you.”

 

“Min...” Yunho warns him softly, and Changmin shakes his head, disgusted and beyond frustrated.

 

“I was there, I saw him only force him to get the guard to open the gate.” Kyuhyun states weakly, but even they can hear the doubt in his voice.

 

“Shifters are fast killers,” Yunho softly tells him. “You never saw Donghae inflict the wound that eventually killed the male.”

 

“So he could have made it by accident?” Kyuhyun says, and at the slightly hesitation from Yunho, Changmin can see Kyuhyun cling to that false hope. “He probably didn’t even intend to hurt him like that then.”

 

“He’s got you so firmly wrapped around his finger that you couldn’t get wrapped around it any tighter,” Changmin says thickly, and Kyuhyun shakes his head.

 

“Like I said,” he reminds them. “Donghae needs someone in his corner.”

 

Silence comes over them at that.

 

Changmin can feel the news they have concerning Kyuhyun burn in his stomach as he wonders if they should reveal it like this. When Donghae returns with Yunho’s drink, eyes back to normal and zero aggression, the atmosphere becomes awkward and tense as the male plants the glass on the table in front of them and takes a seat near Kyuhyun.

 

Changmin immediately picks up on the lack of space between them, and his suspicions are confirmed when Kyuhyun blushes as the shifter naturally places an arm on the back of the sofa, just above Kyuhyun’s shoulders.

 

Yunho stiffens again, which makes Changmin instantly nervous as to what the shifter is picking up on.

 

“Neither of you said that there was a romantic relationship between you,” the shifter states, and Kyuhyun’s face flushes even more while Donghae eyes Yunho.

 

“It only got acknowledged a few nights ago,” Donghae informs Yunho casually, and Changmin finds the male hard to read now.

 

“How convenient,” Yunho says lightly, and Changmin feels himself grow tense as Donghae’s jaw tightens.

 

“Our friendship is on tender hooks right now, Yunho,” Donghae warns. “I would like to think that once we settle this meeting; we can walk away without any more scars to it.”

 

Changmin spies Yunho’s tight smile out of the corner of his eye. “That depends on how the next part goes.”

 

Both Kyuhyun and Donghae stiffen, and that burning sensation in Changmin grows as he senses Yunho possibly choosing this moment to reveal all.

 

“What does that mean?” Kyuhyun demands, confused.

 

“I knew your birth mother,” Yunho surprises the two, and Changmin hears the guard behind them get ready.

 

Kyuhyun leans forward, eager. “How? Where?”

 

“I treated her seven years ago,” Yunho tells him, and Changmin sees Donghae’s face go from surprised to shock as he understands instantly, but Kyuhyun on the other hand...

 

“You treated her?” Kyuhyun repeats slowly, frowning. “Wait...are you saying...” his face pales.

 

“You’re a half-shifter, Kyuhyun,” Yunho tells him gently. “Though, the blood work shows you have a weaker strain of the shifter DNA, which is down to your mother being a half-shifter herself.”

 

“What blood work?” Kyuhyun demands with Donghae echoing him.

 

“From when you cut your hand,” Changmin weakly says, and Kyuhyun stares at him.

 

“We would have been able to detect it like how I can with Hyukjae,” Donghae argues.

 

“Like I said, Kyuhyun is more human than shifter,” he explains further. “It means that you would never have the dual shifter personality nor the shifts, because if you had you would have experienced them by now. What has shown to come through is your acute sense concerning animals.”

 

“Remember the crow?” Changmin reminds him as Kyuhyun struggles to take it in. “How you had never handled one before, but yet, you were able to handle it so easily whereas it had attacked me and another staff member when we had tried to care for it.”

 

“My training helped with that,” Kyuhyun snaps. “I...I can’t be one.”

 

“You’re more human than shifter, Kyuhyun,” Yunho repeats again, this time more firmly. “You just have a few weaker abilities a canine-shifter has.”

 

Both Donghae and Kyuhyun gawk at that snippet of information.

 

“I’m-”

 

“He’s-”

 

“Your mother’s records state that she was of canine descent,” Yunho cuts over them both. “But I also have to warn you, Kyuhyun, your mother didn’t know much of her own heritage, so the small amount of information I have won’t be enough to answer all your questions.”

 

“And so you thought her kid could be in the dark as much as she is,” Kyuhyun grits out, and he looks down to hide his expression.

 

Both shifters react though, able to smell his emotions, and Changmin eyes them as Yunho looks away and Donghae moves closer to comfort Kyuhyun.

 

“I think you should go,” Donghae murmurs as he looks over at them. “Just leave his mother’s contact information and you and I will talk more concerning my treatment if you think I need more.”

 

“I have no contact information to give you,” Yunho says carefully.

 

Kyuhyun looks up as Donghae stare at Yunho. “Why not? She was your patient.”

 

“She committed suicide before her treatment could fully work,” Yunho gently reveals, and Changmin’s chest aches as the news makes Kyuhyun’s face twist with pain and acceptance.

 

“She sure didn’t give a stuff about her kid she abandoned,” he weakly jokes.

 

Donghae makes a jerk with his chin for them to leave as Kyuhyun looks down at his knees, shielding his face from them.

 

“Kyuhyun, if you want, I can help you through-”

 

“If this is you using this chance for me to leave Donghae, then you’re wrong,” Kyuhyun says as he stills looks down. “You’ve seen things are okay with us. Please...just go.”

 

As Yunho rises without saying a word, Changmin rises too. “I have your stuff in the car...” he says to Kyuhyun softly, and the male nods at his unspoken question.

 

As they start to leave, they hear Donghae murmur something and they look behind them to see Kyuhyun nod as the shifter leaves him to follow them.

 

Changmin eyes the male’s approach, and the shifter scoffs as the guard shifts closer to them.

 

“I’m not going to harm them,” he tells the male as they leave the house and head for the black car.

 

Sensing that Donghae wants to talk to Yunho, Changmin makes his excuse known and moves to retrieve Kyuhyun’s bag from the car.

 

When he comes back to them, the guard is walking a little away from the two shifters.

 

“I’m just going to give this to Kyuhyun and say goodbye properly...” Changmin says loud enough for them hear as skirts around them, already feeling the tension coming from them.

 

Both nod, and Changmin goes back inside.

 

 

 

“You really should let Kyuhyun leave,” Yunho says as the both watch the human go back into his home.

 

Donghae scoffs, shaking his head. “Change the record, Yunho.”

 

“You may have Kyuhyun fooled,” Yunho snarls lowly so only Donghae can hear, “but you don’t fool me.”

 

Donghae slowly looks back at the irritating shifter. “Careful, Yunho,” he warns quietly. “I do not like what you’re insinuating.”

 

“Because you know I’m speaking the truth,” Yunho hisses. “You’re using his feelings for you to keep him trapped.”

 

Donghae’s shifter roars, and Donghae clenches his fists tightly as the drum of anger begins to thump through his veins. “Leave.”

 

“I’m giving you three days before you snap and show your true colours,” Yunho spits. “I never thought you would become a person like this, Donghae. You’ve become someone else; actually, you’re turning into the selfish beast I had warned you about.”

 

Yunho gasps in pain, clutching at Donghae as the guard barks out an order for Donghae to release Yunho.

 

Donghae stares at him, at the friend who betrayed him, and tightens his grip on the male’s throat as the gun trained on him clicks in warning as the safety is released.

 

“Consider yourself no longer my physician or friend,” Donghae says slowly as Yunho’s body bleeds submission, the first time in a long time.

 

Hearing Changmin return and gasp at the scene, Donghae shoves Yunho away from him, watching as the shifter’s reflexes catch him from falling.

 

As he turns to head back into the house, Changmin shrinks from him at seeing his face.

 

As he shuts the door behind him and locks it, Donghae grins.

 

For a moment he thought he had lost, but now....

 

Now he’s won.

 

 

 


	25. Chapter 25

 

 

 

Over the few hours, Kyuhyun has been alone by request.

 

He has heard Donghae approach him a few times, but would always back off before coming too close or speak to him.

 

Kyuhyun was grateful for that.

 

It was one thing to find out your birth mother was a half shifter, only to realise what that would make you in turn.

 

Kyuhyun had spent the last few hours testing himself, to see the extent of his so called shifter abilities. He soon stopped because he didn’t even know what he was testing for.

 

He was over hearing of his mother’s death. He kinda accepted it a while ago he’d never get the full story or see her, so he was no longer upset; he’s accepted the news and now it’s time to deal with her legacy she’s bore onto him.

 

Whilst sitting alone, Kyuhyun had begun to question if that was the reason why he caught his attacker’s attention. He did mention Kyuhyun being different, and at the time it didn’t make sense, but now it does. It could also explain just why Donghae especially was so drawn to him. Donghae is classed as the highest role within the shifter world; wouldn’t he be drawn to those more prone to succumbing to his dominance?

 

Donghae had mentioned long ago that Kyuhyun’s scent pushed his shifter to care and make sure Kyuhyun is safe because it was rare for a ‘human’ to attract their shifter. It wasn’t because he’s human, he’s like a unbelievably vulnerable pup, born without any assistance from its mother to teach it the correct way of acting, but abandoned, left to be cared by the hands of humans who would ultimately change its natural development.

 

Donghae was first attracted to Kyuhyun because of this, possibly.

 

But now, now things were different. Donghae no longer wanted to merely care and look after his safety; he developed an attachment that’s made him want to _keep_ Kyuhyun.

 

With escaping to find Kyuhyun and harming people...and killing them, just in order he could get Kyuhyun away so they could be alone again; these little things that Donghae had withheld from him speaks volumes now.

 

If Donghae had felt the same as Kyuhyun does for him, why didn’t he say anything before things became so messy?

 

Kyuhyun swallows, his stomach rolling a little.

 

What if....what Changmin had whispered to him was true?

 

Catching the fresh return of Donghae’s earthy scent, Kyuhyun hides his thoughts, blanketing his emotions so the shifter can’t read him.

 

“Donghae?” he calls softly, drawing the shifter over to him.

 

As the male joins him on the window seat of the bedroom Kyuhyun had situated himself in, Kyuhyun catches the male’s reflection in the window before looking over at him.

 

“Hmm?” Donghae murmurs softly as he brings Kyuhyun into a soft embrace.

 

Kyuhyun uses that to hide his face. “I need to go home.”

 

When Donghae tenses, Kyuhyun forces himself to keep tight hold of his emotions as he waits.

 

“Home?” Donghae echoes. “Your parents home?”

 

“I can’t take any more time off work, I need to go back so I can hand in my resignation,” Kyuhyun tells him calmly, and looks up to gauge the male’s reaction.

 

“You’re quitting work?” Donghae repeats casually, but Kyuhyun catches the quick tug of a smile before Donghae gets rid of it. “What will you do for work?”

 

“I dunno,” Kyuhyun says slowly, hiding his reaction to seeing that little glimpse, even though his heart is starting to flip with unease.

 

Donghae hums as he thinks, his arms tightening around Kyuhyun in a show of comfort.

 

Kyuhyun can’t help but read it as a show of possession.

 

“I’ll ask around, see if any of my contacts know of some veterinary work,” Donghae promises him, smiling down at him.

 

Kyuhyun forces a smile. “You work in construction. I highly doubt it.”

 

Donghae rolls his eyes. “Don’t underestimate my contacts,” he teases.

 

Kyuhyun shakes his head and looks away as the shifter presses his cheek against Kyuhyun’s hair.

 

“You didn’t answer my question.” Donghae points out after a moment of silence, and Kyuhyun looks down at the floor.

 

“I should return back there,” he says softly, already expecting Donghae’s reaction.

 

“You can always stay with me,” Donghae suggests softly, the press of his lips brushing Kyuhyun’s hair in a caress. “You wouldn’t have to lug all of your stuff back to and from home whenever you stay.”

 

“You’re moving this relationship fast,” Kyuhyun jokes lightly. “Isn’t it normal for us to be apart for the beginning?”

 

Donghae growls softly in argument, his hand gently drawing Kyuhyun’s face up to look at him.

 

Kyuhyun swallows at the look in the male’s eyes, his tummy fluttering, despite what he knows, from the desire he can see slowly burning in the male’s brown eyes.

 

“We’re not normal, Hyun,” Donghae purrs softly, and Kyuhyun’s breathing automatically hitches in anticipation as the male leans down, eyes shutting.

 

The soft but firm press of Donghae’s lips causes Kyuhyun to shudder, unable to stop himself from falling for the male’s kiss.

 

His feelings for Donghae are genuine; he can’t suddenly switch them off.

 

As he gets swept up into the kiss, feeling Donghae tug him gently so that he’s moving to straddle his lap, Kyuhyun breaks the kiss, shaking his head as Donghae leans up to kiss him again.

 

“Slow,” Kyuhyun orders softly, and pushing against Donghae’s chest. “Promise we’ll go slow if I stay.”

 

Donghae nods immediately. “Of course.”

 

Kyuhyun breathes out, allowing his nerves to show and causing Donghae to smile as he presses a kiss to his nose.

 

If only the shifter knew just what he was really nervous about.

 

 

 

“You’re looking well,” Hyukjae comments as he walks into his office with the stack of paper Donghae needs to look over due to his absence.

 

“I’m back on my home turf,” Donghae grins as he types, checking up on the final shots of the Gangnam gallery nearing completion.

 

Hyukjae scoffs. “Translation: Kyuhyun is still with me despite all the shit I’ve put him through.”

 

Donghae gives the male a mock glare, even though his shifter demands a real one. “You know how I was thinking of venturing onto other areas...” Donghae begins as Hyukjae dumps the folders onto his desk.

 

“Yeah?” Hyukjae says slowly, eyeing him suspiciously. “If this is about your ludicrous idea of going with Yesung’s proposal of opening a restaurant with him-”

 

“I’m going to build and invest in a veterinary practice especially for abandoned animals or those who can’t afford to pay healthcare,” Donghae cuts over Hyukjae’s ramble as he briefly flicks through the folders.

 

“You’re building one for Kyuhyun,” Hyukjae states, stunned.

 

Donghae shrugs. “I’ll offer him a job. He’s currently resigning from his due to conflicting opinion over his boss’s decision to turn it into a money grabbing business.”

 

Hyukjae starts to splutter. “You honestly think he’ll accept a job knowing what he knows?!”

 

Donghae frowns as he looks up. “I’d make it clear it’s just a job, not me trying to control him. He’s always said he wants to work for places like this, but there are very little places operating in Seoul at the moment. It’s a perfect chance to invest in something.”

 

“The idea of investing is to gain profit from that investment,” Hyukjae corrects. “You’ll just be chucking money away.”

 

“I have plenty,” Donghae waves off. “The investment would make me feel better knowing I was helping those unlucky.”

 

“Oh please,” Hyukjae scoffs. “You’re not even fooling me, so how are you going to fool Kyuhyun?”

 

“Then it’s a good thing I’m not trying to fool anyone, isn’t it?” Donghae remarks sternly, causing Hyukjae to straighten. “I merely want to help, and if that means I can do that by ticking off other problems, then great.”

 

Hyukjae sighs, but nods in compliant. “Has Yunho backed off now?”

 

Donghae hums as he reads. “He’ll pop up sometime no doubt, but for now he’s out of my hair.”

 

“Shouldn’t you at least....” Hyukjae trails off at the mention of seeking guidance over his still present attachment due to the look he gets from the shifter.

 

“Is that all?” Donghae asks, tone clipped.

 

Hyukjae nods, and bows as Donghae gives him a dismissive nod of his head.

 

As he leaves, his stomach churns more.

 

The elephant in the room has yet to be spoken about, or if ever judging by Donghae’s reaction.

 

 

 

_Shim Changmin: Any signs?_

 

Kyuhyun swallows his mouthful of water and quickly moves to reply back to the Skype message.

 

_Cho Kyuhyun: Last night, I overheard Donghae talking to someone about the cost of running a practice._

 

Kyuhyun watches the little pen move as Changmin quickly types to his response, and he rolls his shoulders, listening to the sounds of the now quiet building, his shift nearing the end.

 

_Shim Changmin: Practice?_

_Cho Kyuhyun: A veterinary practice._

 

Seeing his typed words reawakens the nervous shock inside him. He had been stunned when he had overheard Donghae’s conversation, struggling to believe his own ears, but when the shifter asked more questions with a tone of finality to his voice, Kyuhyun began to panic.

 

This was exactly something he had been warned about. Donghae would try to ensure that Kyuhyun was surrounded by him completely; in an emotional sense, at home, and now at work.

 

He was trying to cement Kyuhyun firmly into his life, and by building something – potentially – for Kyuhyun, it meant that Donghae’s control over his attachment was no longer strong if he was indulging in thoughts of wanting to keep Kyuhyun, have him dependant on Donghae again.

 

_Shim Changmin: Yunho wants you to leave._

 

Kyuhyun sighs.

 

He had gotten into contact the first night they moved back to the city, needing to have a line to help if things continued to prove Kyuhyun’s suspicions right, but he had made both of them promise to allow Kyuhyun control over the situation, it could not be revealed Kyuhyun was going behind Donghae’s back.

 

_Cho Kyuhyun: Not yet. I may be wrong. I want to see how it plays out._

_Shim Changmin: I want to shake you right now, you crazy bastard. Donghae’s only going to progress further and what will you do if he stops controlling himself so well? What if he finally shows his true colours? You’ll be screwed._

 

Kyuhyun bites his lip. Donghae has never once harmed him, and he’s had enough incidents where control has been lost.

 

No. A part of Kyuhyun still believes that Donghae isn’t going to turn. He still believes in the hope that the shifter has genuine romantic feelings for him because he wants to, and not because he wants to keep Kyuhyun like an object, a prize.

 

_Cho Kyuhyun: Tell Yunho thanks for the scanned journals he emailed me, they’re coming more in handy for me to read Donghae._

 

_Shim Changmin: Kyuhyun...seriously, you need to be careful now. You’re alone with an unstable shifter; no one will be able to come to your aid, not like they did back at the clinic._

_Cho Kyuhyun: Well then, let’s hope that we’re all wrong and that Donghae is going to be fine._

 

As he signs off just as his shift comes closer to its end, Kyuhyun starts to tidy up, already preparing himself for tonight.

 

Donghae was wanting to cook him dinner, to pamper him due to all the stress he’s had and has been going through this week due to work.

 

Kyuhyun had read more into the male’s words, because when the male announced it, there was a slight hunger in the male’s brown eyes as he watched Kyuhyun get out of the car.

 

It was times like that where all of Kyuhyun’s reading about shifters came in handy.

 

An attached shifter will develop feelings, but those only develop after the initial ones of wanting to claim the person who they have their attentions on. Once they get past that phase one of wanting to lay down the law and show that they want only that person, they then move onto the next step.

 

The step to physically claim their person.

 

Kyuhyun’s neck burns and his cheeks follow suit as he grows flustered. To counteract his readings about attached shifters, he read that shifters – of all kinds – will react strongly to another they develop strong romantic ties with. They’ll become besotted and want nothing more to cherish and love their partner. Kinda like a pairing, or what Kyuhyun knows to be as ‘mates’ due to his past fiction reading, but he’s found little evidence of this term in the journals of this actually existing.

 

The line separating those sides is so thin that Kyuhyun did begin to wonder if Donghae was even attached, and if he merely was reacting as a normal high born shifter would.

 

Because one thing Yunho’s journals didn’t tell Kyuhyun was how shifters of higher status, like Donghae, would react, and the reason behind the lack of evidence was because those types of shifters are fiercely private of their lives and those close to them when love becomes involved.

 

The closer Kyuhyun has came across is of one female shifter, who is just slightly lower of Donghae’s level of power and dominance, and she stated that when she realised she was drawn to her partner, it felt like an all consuming need that she needed to sate, and she only managed to do that by pursuing them.

 

Kyuhyun’s readings only helped to clutter his mind, not helping him to put Donghae into a single category he belonged to.

 

For instance, category one, Yunho diagnosed him with attachment and Donghae accepted it, but they all accepted it too easily. Category two, Donghae is a shifter who is stronger and has more complex needs that aren’t normal to see in an average shifter, but no one has stopped to bring that in. And lastly, Kyuhyun is barely a half-shifter who has managed to draw Donghae in completely where no other has ever tempted Donghae before, and according to his readings, two shifters attracted to each other would lead to a more stronger and slightly dangerous dance of pursuing.

 

The chances are that it’s the third category is seeming more high the more Kyuhyun thinks about it...but, category one and three are blurring together now with the news he had learnt last night.

 

He isn’t certain at all, which is why he hasn’t voiced his doubts to anyone.

 

As he finishes his shift and leaves work, he breathes heavily as he sees Donghae’s jeep waiting for him, the shifter sitting behind the wheel, watching him.

 

He doesn’t know how tonight is going to pan out.

 

And that’s what’s making his heart race.

 

It could go smoothly...or tonight could be the night where everything changes.

 

 

 

 


	26. Chapter 26

 

 

 

So far, the evening was going well.

 

Kyuhyun shuddered a little, face burning as Donghae’s hand gently squeezes his thigh from under the table, watching him fondly as Kyuhyun tries out the new bottle of wine the male had brought out.

 

“Decent?” Donghae questions curiously, and Kyuhyun nods automatically, not really tasting it.

 

As Donghae pours more for him, Kyuhyun tries to control his nerves, unable to stop feeling so on edge.

 

“Tough day at work?” Donghae asks softly as he begins to put some food onto Kyuhyun’s plate.

 

“I’ll do it,” Kyuhyun says immediately, hand moving to stop him.

 

“I don’t mind-”

 

“I said I’ll do it!” Kyuhyun snaps, and freezes instantly as Donghae stills.

 

After a few tense seconds, Donghae drops the spoon, the sound of it like a sharp crack through the silence against the cutlery.

 

Kyuhyun’s hand hovers where Donghae’s had been as he stares at Donghae who silently fills his own glass with wine.

 

“Donghae-”

 

“Eat.”

 

Kyuhyun flinches at the clipped answer, drawing his hand back to him. “I’m sorry,” he apologises, trying to get Donghae to look at him. “I didn’t mean to snap.”

 

“Then you might want to explain why you’re so tense and nervous tonight,” Donghae comments, still not looking at him, but out of the huge kitchen windows.

 

Kyuhyun chews on his bottom lip. “I’m just...stressed.”

 

“Which is why I was trying to cater for you,” Donghae answers back simply.

 

“I’m stressed, not immobile,” Kyuhyun mutters, looking down at his plate.

 

“And I was trying to be caring,” Donghae states, and Kyuhyun looks up at the male’s tone to see the male looking disappointed.

 

Kyuhyun’s stomach clenches with guilt. “Shall we try again?” He asks lightly, smiling a little.

 

Donghae smiles automatically, his brown eyes relaxing and softening. “Sure.”

 

Kyuhyun bears with the conflict inside him as he allows Donghae to choose, watching as the male carefully plates Kyuhyun food.

 

Surely this isn’t about control...surely Donghae was merely just trying to be caring.

 

Kyuhyun was starting to get a headache from all of the conflicting theories rattling his mind.

 

As they eat, the silence is somewhat comfortable, but Kyuhyun can’t help but glancing at Donghae, waiting for something...something he doesn’t even know that will happen.

 

“Do I have something on my face?” Donghae teases, catching Kyuhyun off guard as he peeks at him.

 

Kyuhyun blushes, shaking his head.

 

Donghae chuckles, “I guess you just can’t help yourself.”

 

Kyuhyun’s face burns more.

 

“Are you done?” Donghae asks cautiously as he moves to stand up, his plate already in hand.

 

Kyuhyun nods, and tries to ignore the concerned look he sees on Donghae’s face when the shifter sees how little he’s eaten.

 

“Are you okay?” Donghae asks, standing with both plates. “You hardly touched it.”

 

“I had a big lunch,” Kyuhyun lies and immediately regrets it when Donghae’s face sours.

 

As Donghae storms off to the sink, Kyuhyun sags in his seat, wanting to shoot himself for the never-ending mistakes he’s making tonight.

 

He’s going to make Donghae pissed if he isn’t careful.

 

Needing to do damage control, Kyuhyun slips from his seat and silently creeps up on Donghae’s back to him as he sorts out the dishes.

 

Donghae stiffens in surprise as Kyuhyun hesitantly wraps his arms around the male’s waist, hugging him from behind.

 

“I’m being such a buzz kill tonight, aren’t I?” Kyuhyun mumbles apologetically against Donghae’s shoulder as he presses his cheek against the shoulder blade.

 

Donghae relaxes, his hands coming up to covering Kyuhyun’s. “I never realised just how miserable you’ve been.”

 

“I’m not-”

 

“I can smell when you lie, Kyuhyun.” Donghae reminds him, causing Kyuhyun to sigh.

 

“I just...” Kyuhyun struggles to word things without giving anything away.

 

Donghae turns in his hold and instead holds Kyuhyun instead, kissing the side of his temple as he tucks Kyuhyun close to him.

 

“It’s still too new for you, isn’t it?” Donghae asks him, and Kyuhyun nods because that is true.

 

“It just seems unreal that you feel the same,” Kyuhyun mutters, being careful as he creates his chance. “You never showed any sort of attraction to me.”

 

Donghae chuckles deep within his chest. “I’m an excellent bluffer.”

 

Kyuhyun shakes his head, not happy with that as he pulls away slightly so he can read the male’s face. “I need you to be completely honest with me,” he says softly, firmly.

 

Donghae eyes him, slightly wary. “Sure...”

 

“You do like me, right?” Kyuhyun breathes out, his tight chest releasing as he rushes the words out. “This is you liking me, you wanting me, and not your shifter wanting to claim me.”

 

Donghae’s hold on him slackens a little and Kyuhyun’s heart rate soars. “Of course I do,” Donghae assures him, but that hesitation in his body language speaks volumes.

 

“Donghae...” Kyuhyun warns, and Donghae breathes in deeply.

 

“Remember what I told you about the dominant personality between a shifter and your own mind?” Donghae whispers, and Kyuhyun just say barely manages to nod. “I told you that since you came onto the scene his presence in my head has grown?”

 

Again, Kyuhyun nods.

 

Donghae cradles his face, and Kyuhyun’s eyes widen as his eyes turn amber again.

 

“It’s gotten to the point where I’ve forgotten the barrier between us since we share the same thoughts and feelings,” Donghae whispers, keeping Kyuhyun still when he moved to back away.

 

“You...c-control,” Kyuhyun stutters out, hands gripping Donghae’s arms.

 

“I am in control, Kyuhyun,” Donghae purrs. “And to answer your question, we both want to claim you, we both desire you.”

 

“I’m not interested about your shifter!” Kyuhyun desperately snaps as his proof is becoming more apparent. “I want to know what _you_ feel, Donghae,” he stresses.

 

Those amber eyes glisten, growing brighter, and it causes a knee-jerk response inside Kyuhyun to run.

 

But Donghae keeps tight a hold of him. “I just told you.”

 

Kyuhyun shakes his head violently and shoves himself away from Donghae, shaking. “You told me ‘we’, not you.”

 

“But there is no ‘me’ no more,” Donghae laughs as he slowly follows Kyuhyun, but it doesn’t sound like his usual laugh. “There’s us, now.”

 

Kyuhyun nearly skids as he runs away, fear like a burn through his body as Donghae’s laugh changes, it becomes maddening, that word echoing.

 

Gasping as he’s roughly spun around, Kyuhyun grunts as he’s shoved against the wall of the staircase.

 

“And where do you think you’re going?” Donghae asks, tone anything but light and nice.

 

Kyuhyun looks away from those eyes, tries not to see the slight change in the male’s face. “Away from you,” he growls out, forcing himself not to be so scared.

 

Donghae won’t harm him, he reminds himself desperately. He’s still in there.

 

“Because you don’t like the thought I’ve merged more with my shifter now?” Donghae asks, perplexed. “It’s what happens when a shifter finds the one.”

 

Kyuhyun’s skin tightens at that and he forces to ignore Donghae’s lies. “That’s not why, Donghae,” he pants out as he tries to push past him, but Donghae remains unmoved.

 

“Then what?” Donghae whispers, and Kyuhyun chokes as the male presses him with his body against the wall, caging him completely.

 

“You’ve lost control,” Kyuhyun whimpers, watching the progression of the male’s features changing. “You’re shifting, right now.”

 

“That’s because my loved one is trying to leave me,” Donghae abolishes Kyuhyun’s first statement. “You’re doubting me.”

 

“Because you’ve given me reason to!” Kyuhyun defends.

 

“How?” Donghae growls, and Kyuhyun sucks back a breath at the intimidating air surrounding Donghae now. “I thought I proved to you that I wanted you-”

 

“I heard you last night,” Kyuhyun hisses out, cutting him off. “You’re _building_ me a place to work in. A cage.”

 

Donghae’s expression turns thunderous at the word ‘cage’. “I am not caging you.”

 

“Then what do you think you’re doing now, huh?” Kyuhyun snaps back, shoving at him. “You’re trying to keep me from running, trying to keep me from leaving you.”

 

“I don’t want you to get lost-”

 

“You’re trying to control me!” Kyuhyun screams, all of his anger and hurt exploding as he starts to shake. “You promised me you wouldn’t, and yet here you are!”

 

Donghae snarls and Kyuhyun flinches as the male shoves away from him, pacing the floor immediately, and Kyuhyun’s breathing comes faster as he recognises more signs of the male starting to shift as his body grows broader, and taller.

 

“Stop it,” Kyuhyun demands, and forces himself to stand his ground when Donghae snarls at him. “Do not shift, Donghae.”

 

“Why not?” Donghae seethes as he paces. “This is what I am, Kyuhyun. A shifter.”

 

Kyuhyun shakes his head. “You were never like this.”

 

Donghae jerks, a gasp leaving him as stumbles abruptly as his shirt starts to strain from the shift coming on quicker.

 

Kyuhyun clutches at the wall. “Stop it.”

 

Donghae snarls at him again, amber eyes warring with himself for control as they flicker from amber to brown.

 

“You believe you’ve lost to him,” Kyuhyun mutters softly, seeing two separate identities in front of him. “Donghae, you’re the dominant one, not him.”

 

Donghae growls so viciously that Kyuhyun jerks out of the way as the male moves to rush at him.

 

As Donghae checks himself and forces himself away from Kyuhyun, Kyuhyun shoves away the need to run.

 

He’s the only one who’s managed to see this, the true problem.

 

Donghae’s shifter was overruling him.

 

Yunho had been wrong all along, Donghae was fine; his shifter was the one unwell.

 

Kyuhyun follows slowly as Donghae stumbles through the house, knocking things over as he fights with his shifter who wants to be free.

 

“Donghae!” Kyuhyun shouts in warning and rushes after the male as he stumbles and breaks the table as he falls on to it, writhing and moaning in pain as his body continues to thicken, his skin turning dark, his clothes ripping off him the more he grows.

 

Donghae jerks at his voice and shakes his head wildly as Kyuhyun skids to his knees to help him, but freezes at seeing the blood running down his face.

 

It reminded him of that night all of those weeks ago when he found Donghae unconscious in his jeep, the evidence of his shifter forcing itself onto Donghae and fighting with him.

 

Seeing the male’s brown eyes watering as they look over at him, Kyuhyun’s chest aches at seeing the confusion and turmoil raging in Donghae’s eyes.

 

“You...make....worse,” Donghae wheezes out as he digs his frighteningly long nails into the wood, and Kyuhyun frowns at being unable to catch what he’s saying as he wipes the blood from Donghae’s face with his hand, trying to calm him down as he starts to breathe quick.

 

“Block him,” Kyuhyun soothes calmly, holding his face. “Remember what they taught you, Donghae, contain him.”

 

Donghae shakes his head, shoving himself away as he groans in pain, his back arching. “Go!”

 

Kyuhyun grabs him to steady him as the sharp pieces of wood almost pierce Donghae. “You need-”

 

Donghae cries out in agony and Kyuhyun’s flung away as Donghae’s body jerks, cracking sounds erupting from him as he vocalises the pain of his shift.

 

Kyuhyun crawls to the wall of the staircase again, and dread fills him as the shift comes faster, showing him for the first time.

 

When the shift ends, Kyuhyun’s shaking with fear.

 

The...beast in front of him, the broken remains of the table dwarfed by the beast’s sheer size, the thick jet black fur seeming to add more to its overwhelming size. Those amber eyes are a sharp contrast against the black, forcing you to focus and see into the beast’s soul as it breathes quick and shallow.

 

Two thick long canine teeth protrude on each side from the huge and threatening canine beast, its muzzle partly open as it snarls lowly, showing just more of its razor sharp teeth inside its mouth as it begins the deep rumbling song of warning.

 

Kyuhyun presses harder against the wall as the thing moves to lower on its front legs, its back end up, and Kyuhyun instinctively recognises the signs of an impending leap.

 

The beast roars, and Kyuhyun shoots sideways and stumbles to his feet as he races for the entranceway door, blocking out the sound of plaster crumbling behind him as the beast connects with the wall.

 

As he grabs the door to slide it open, he freezes, and he knows he can’t lead the beast out into public like this.

 

He’ll kill in his attempt to get Kyuhyun.

 

Turning sharply, Kyuhyun avoids the huge beast as he flies past him, stumbling in fright as the beast lets out a furious snarl.

 

He spies what he needs and bends down and grabs it, spinning in time at the sound of it thundering for him.

 

Kyuhyun is too late to react this time as the canine beast leaps.

 

Head connecting with the smooth marble floor, it knocks him instantly sick as the weight of Donghae’s beast form pins him painfully to the ground, its muzzle right in his face as he growls in warning.

 

“Donghae...” Kyuhyun wheezes out, vision blurring from the harsh knock, and he tries to helplessly push the canine off him, hands against his underbelly.

 

Those amber eyes stare down at him, no sign of Donghae coming through, and Kyuhyun groans as the beast applies more pressure to him, suffocating him.

 

Kyuhyun clenches his eyes shut and thrusts his hand.

 

The beast yowls in pain and Kyuhyun quickly slashes again and drags the streak knife deeper into the side of his vulnerable underbelly before the beast pushes off him, allowing him to breathe.

 

As the beast tries to dislodge the knife still stick in its side, Kyuhyun sees the danger coming before he can stop it.

 

Even as his scream echoes, nothing can cover the sound of that huge window cracking and shattering from the beast’s weight and force when it pushed off from Kyuhyun.

 

Kyuhyun stares in shock as the glass continues to rain from the shattered window.

 

He scrambles to look over the edge and feels sick rise at seeing the huge form lying on its side, the side where he had stuck the knife into.

 

At seeing the blood start to ooze onto the concrete floor below, Kyuhyun races for a phone.

 

When he comes back, phone pressed to his ear, the beast’s form has changed, and there lies Donghae, naked with a huge slash to his abdominal and side, the knife lying on the floor as more blood as been spilled, a continuous flow of it coming from his injury.

 

Kyuhyun only acts.

 

He runs down the steps leading to the garden, Donghae’s name crying from him as he drops the phone.

 

He knew tonight was going to end badly.

 

He just never expected it to end with Donghae dying.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.....yeah....were you all expecting that ;P
> 
> *Runs to hide from the possible angry mob coming her way*


	27. Chapter 27

 

 

 

Covered in blood, Kyuhyun’s sobbing as he runs after them.

 

“Save him, please!” he cries out to the A&E team that were trying to stabilize Donghae’s unconscious form.

 

As the operation area doors shut, Kyuhyun sags to his knees, guilt and pain ripping through him as he looks down at his hands covered in Donghae’s blood from his attempt to stem the bleeding with his sweater.

 

Kyuhyun ignores the chill of the hospital creeping through the thin material of his top he had worn underneath his sweater, and cries softly as he listens to the sounds of the hospital going on around him.

 

Seeing the small inconspicuous payphone out of the corner of his eye, Kyuhyun forces himself to his feet and stumbles for it. Patting down his pants, he nearly cries at his lack of change to make the phone call.

 

“Sir?” A gentle female’s voice comes from behind him, and Kyuhyun turns to see her face turn shocked at seeing the state of him.

 

“Do you...I-I need to make a call,” he forces out, trying not to break down further.

 

The nurse gently motions for him to follow her with the promise he can use the nurse station’s phone to make a call.

 

“Is he your partner?” she asks, referring to Donghae who they had all seen being rushed down the corridor.

 

Kyuhyun can’t even breathe and she has to ease him into a seat as she tries to calm him down before shouting for one of her co-workers for assistance.

 

“Sir?”

 

“I need to make a call,” he repeats staring past her and at the phone he sees on the desk.

 

He eventually is able to make that call, and Kyuhyun doesn’t even care he’s smeared Donghae’s blood around since it still hadn’t dried fully yet.

 

That phone call ends before it can even last a full minute.

 

“Sir, we need just a few details of the male who you came in with,” the nurse says as she takes back the phone.

 

Kyuhyun automatically tells them Donghae’s name and address, but no more.

 

“Sir?!”

 

Kyuhyun ignores the calls for him as he runs away from the questions he cannot answer truthfully or at all.

 

He starts to cry again the second he hits the cold night air, his breath puffing out in front of him.

 

Help is on their way, those who Donghae classes part of his family and will deal with the questions, and it’s time for Kyuhyun to be on his way.

 

So he blindly hails down a passing taxi, ignores the older man’s startled comment about the blood on him, and chokes out an address.

 

As the taxi takes him away, Kyuhyun refuses to look back at the hospital; refuses to look back at what he’s leaving behind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_“Do you understand?”_

_“Do you fully understand what has happened and why?”_

_“Good.”_

_  
_

_One year later_

 

 

 

“Kyuhyun?”

 

Kyuhyun almost sloshes his drink at the call of his name from one of the student nurses. “Yeah?”

 

She laughs, shaking her head. “There is a patient for you, room six.”

 

Kyuhyun frowns, but nods, already draining his drink and racing from the staff room.

 

As she hands him the file made at making the appointment, Kyuhyun comes to a halt at seeing the name.

 

“He’s brought a golden retriever?” Kyuhyun confirms and she nods as he holds the door handle to the room.

 

“Will you be needing-”

 

“I’ll be fine attending to this one on my own,” he dismisses her gently, and she bows and walks away.

 

Gathering his nerves, Kyuhyun opens the door.

 

Immediately an earthy musk greets him; a first in an entire year.

 

“Yunho,” Kyuhyun greets warmly, not daring to look at the other male in the room.

 

“You look well, Kyuhyun,” Yunho remarks kindly, and Kyuhyun smiles as he pulls his stool to sit down on.

 

“Busan is a refreshing place to live,” he jokes lightly, still avoiding looking at the male that he wants nothing more to gaze at, to assure him that it is in fact him.

 

“You okay with this?” Yunho asks gently, and Kyuhyun swallows, and finally looks at the other man.

 

Donghae smiles at him softly, and Kyuhyun jerks a nod.

 

“I’ll be back in a few minutes, just let me know when you’re done with the ‘examination’,” Yunho tells them softly, and Kyuhyun swallows as the male leaves, the door shutting softly behind them.

 

It’s the first time both have been in a room with each other since that night a year ago.

 

Kyuhyun fiddles with the file in his hands. “I’m-”

 

“You don’t need to say sorry, Kyuhyun.”

 

Kyuhyun shuts up, chest tightening at the sound of the male’s smooth, gentle voice.

 

“I’m the one who needs to apologise,” Donghae says, and Kyuhyun looks away at the expression gracing the male’s face.

 

“You weren’t well,” Kyuhyun whispers. “You weren’t you.”

 

“That doesn’t excuse the fact that I caused you nothing but fear and stress,” Donghae argues softly. “I had the chance to stop it, but I was weak to.”

 

Kyuhyun shakes his head. “You believed your own shifter; you thought it was showing you the right way.”

 

“Yunho told me he’s kept you informed all the way through my treatment?” Donghae questions, and Kyuhyun nods. “Then you know that both myself and my shifter played a role in my descent into madness.”

 

Kyuhyun denies it.

 

He remembers what he saw that night, even if no one fully believes him.

 

“You were scared of yourself in the end,” Kyuhyun murmurs softly.

 

“Of course,” Donghae agrees just as soft. “I was scared I would kill you.”

 

Kyuhyun inhales deeply at that.

 

“You did what needed to be done, to make sure you survived,” Donghae soothes him, no regret or hatred in his voice as he picks up on Kyuhyun’s ever readable emotions.

 

“And it almost cost you your life,” Kyuhyun hisses, staring at the wall as the year old guilt rakes his insides.

 

Donghae sighs, and Kyuhyun looks over at the sound of him moving.

 

Feeling his heart skip with nerves, Kyuhyun rises so it isn’t too awkward as Donghae leans against the table as he tightens the long coat covering his naked form.

 

“You ended up saving me in the end though,” Donghae points out to him, and Kyuhyun looks away to escape the look in the male’s eyes.

 

After a moment of silence, Donghae speaks again.

 

“Are you happy?” Donghae whispers, looking down at his toes.

 

Kyuhyun looks back at him, and studies the male properly now. He’s lost some weight, he didn’t look so well built any more, more slender, but he was still broad. His hair was shorter now, the brown lighter.

 

Kyuhyun doesn’t respond straightaway, causing Donghae to look at him.

 

“Are you?” Kyuhyun asks, worry filling him.

 

Donghae smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “No.”

 

“You’ve made brilliant progress,” he soothes, “the treatment has worked, and you look healthier too.”

 

Donghae shakes his head. “Not really.”

 

Kyuhyun tries to control the alarm spreading through him. “Why do you feel it hasn’t?”

 

“Because I still have feelings for you.”

 

Kyuhyun looks down at the male’s confession, swallowing thickly.  “We can’t,” he reminds him, voice choked.

 

“I know,” Donghae says, defeated and sad.

 

Kyuhyun looks up, sees the male’s hurting expression, and goes to act on instinct and impulse, but catches himself.

 

“It’s okay,” Donghae whispers, “you’re allowed.”

 

Kyuhyun stops holding himself back.

 

“Maybe one day,” Kyuhyun whispers as Donghae returns the hug, and Kyuhyun tries so hard not to cling to him too.

 

But both know that day will never come.

 

It could make Donghae relapse and fall back into that dangerous pattern that led him to losing control over his shifter and himself.

 

And this time, Kyuhyun was listening to himself; he’s not endangering Donghae’s life again.

 

As they hold each other, both breathing in each other’s familiar and comforting scent, Kyuhyun feels the lid on his emotions threaten to fall off.

 

Donghae squeezes him tightly in comfort. “I know,” he whispers. “I know.”

 

“Do you think things would have ended differently if I had gone to my friends that night instead of moving in with you?” Kyuhyun whispers and he feels Donghae shrug.

 

“I would have still fell for you,” Donghae sighs. “I would have still wanted you to be near me so I could protect you, which would eventually lead me to wanting to keep you all to myself.”

 

“So we’re doomed?” Kyuhyun laughs forcefully, and he feels Donghae gently pull away from him, ending the hug.

 

Donghae nods. “We’re doomed,” he echoes.

 

Kyuhyun looks as Yunho knocks on the door, and when the male peeks in, he eyes them both with sad eyes.

 

“We need to go,” Yunho says, and Kyuhyun nods as he turns away to allow Donghae to shift back into his pet form as Yunho comes back into the room, the door shutting.

 

“I guess this will be the last I’ll see of you guys?” Kyuhyun asks, and he turns at the sound of gentle paws walking around on the tiled floor.

 

Yunho nods as Donghae sits down, head looking down. “You could call by and see us whenever you visit your family?” Yunho says half-heartedly, and Kyuhyun knows not to take it seriously.

 

He and Donghae won’t be able to meet again.

 

Kyuhyun forces a smile. “Send my regards to Changmin,” he says lightly, and Yunho nods, nudging for Donghae to move with his foot.

 

As Donghae stands up, tail hanging limply between his legs, Kyuhyun’s suddenly hit with the memory of his first meeting with the shifter.

 

His awe at how big the dog was, completely unaware that he was something more, and his natural ease with him whilst Donghae was under his care, both of them have cared after each other so much that they should have kept a tally.

 

Kyuhyun’s hand itches to stroke that soft golden fur one last time.

 

“Don’t get knocked over again,” he attempts to tease, feeling his throat constrict with tears as Donghae looks up at him. “I won’t be able to fix you.”

 

Donghae whines slightly, and Yunho opens the door, hurrying the goodbye along.

 

“Look after yourself, Kyuhyun.”

 

“Take good care of him,” Kyuhyun whispers back as he looks away.

 

When the door closes, Kyuhyun stumbles back to sit on his stool, shaking.

 

As he silently cries, he clings to the lingering scent of Donghae.

 

The male had not only showed him a new world, it had forced Kyuhyun to face a past he never knew he had, and forced him to face a future he also didn’t want to have.

 

In an ideal world, they would be able to be together, able to magically overcome Donghae’s issues. But now, too much has happened; they aren’t suitable to be together, it’s too dangerous.

 

It’s a fact, and Kyuhyun’s struggled an entire year to accept it.

 

Even though he was in denial when he had struggled to believe Donghae wasn’t controlling him towards the end, and even now he still unsure if Donghae ever did have the attachment to him, but Kyuhyun really did develop feelings for Donghae, and he knows now that Donghae did too.

 

But nothing will ever happen.

 

Their story of ‘attachment’ and loss of control has come to an end with both of them surviving, but living separate lives.

 

One day, Kyuhyun will move back to Seoul where he’ll have to live knowing they’re so close yet so far away, but right now the distance is needed.

 

The memories need to fade more, scars need to heal.

 

Feelings need to disappear.

 

It’s time to move on now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_“Any questions?”_

 

 

 

_“Donghae?”_

_“...okay then.”_

_“Let’s end this now.”_

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Waves a white flag from where she's hiding*
> 
> So...now it's time to explain the ending. From day one I had planned for them to never be together, it would be slightly unrealistic for them to be considering how toxic and unsafe their relationship could become. 
> 
> I'm not sure if it's come across, but the whole purpose of the last few chapters was for you guys to decide for yourself what you truly believe. Like Kyuhyun, he doesn't believe Donghae ever suffered from 'attachment' and that it lies more to do with Donghae being born of as a more dominant (which caused chaos in terms of power between him and his shifter) and complex shifter (aka alpha) and due to the lack of evidence, it's never been really looked at.
> 
> Now, you guys can think otherwise since you were able to see both sides.
> 
> I threw a lot of stuff at you guys over the course of the story, and I have tried to make sure I've answered questions within the fic itself, but if you have any, I'll be hanging around pretty much all day to answer them below. 
> 
> As I mentioned in past comments, this will be my last chaptered fic for a while (solo one anyway), so i'm thankful for all the support and interest you guys have gave the fic, and even though it's not the ending/direction most would have liked, I hoped you enjoyed it ^-^


End file.
